by Sandy Sand
Being a devout hater of Daylight Savings Time, I always knew DST is bad for one’s health and psyche, and a study by Swedish researchers proves it.
Daylight Savings Time turns our body clocks inside out and backwards.
According to the Associated Press, the findings, which are reported in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, Swedish scientists discovered the following after reviewing health records for the last 20 years: In the week after "spring forward," there was a five percent increase in heart attacks, with a six percent bump Monday and Wednesday and a 10 percent increase Tuesday.
In the week after "fall back," the number of heart attacks was about the same as in the previous and subsequent weeks, except for a five percent decrease Monday.
In my opinion, contrary to popular belief that DST is an energy saver verges on worldwide urban legend; Daylight Savings is NOT an energy saver.
If anything, it’s an energy waster.
Because the sun sets an hour later, it means we keep our energy-guzzling air-conditioners running an hour longer. Keeping the A/C on longer is certainly more energy-consuming that flipping on a few light switches.
Not only that, but the last two week of DST are depressing as hell. It’s dark for so long in the morning it puts a drag on the entire day while draining our own personal energy.
When I look at the clock and it says 7 a.m. and the sun is barely peeking over the horizon, it feels like something is terribly wrong.
Blame the charcoal industry for extending DST hours; it was their lobbying efforts that done this to us, because they wanted a little more daylight so they could sell more charcoal.
Who uses charcoal bar-b-ques anymore anyway? As for me, I find it a pain in the butt to make all those trips out back to cook what I can whip up just as well and far more easily in my kitchen.
Even with gas bar-b-ques, I rarely smell the tempting aroma of sizzling steaks wafting into my back yard, so I’m not sure how many people are still throwing shrimp or anything else on the barbie.
Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_10851210
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Single Digits Narrow Obama/McCain Race
by Sandy Sand
Election day is almost here.
The race between presidential candidates Barack “Change” Obama and John “More of the Same” McCain is eight days from now and counting…
These are the only single digits I want to see separate these two candidates.
The election cannot come soon enough.
Or as Obama said, “ENOUGH!”
Election day is almost here.
The race between presidential candidates Barack “Change” Obama and John “More of the Same” McCain is eight days from now and counting…
These are the only single digits I want to see separate these two candidates.
The election cannot come soon enough.
Or as Obama said, “ENOUGH!”
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sarah Palin is Going Off the McCain Reservation and Staking Out Her Own Territory
by Sandy Sand
The first hints of Sarah Palin separating herself from John McCain came last week from Rachael Maddow and Keith Olbermann; now it’s all over the Web.
As I write, it’s the first topic on Howard Kurtz’ Reliable Sources on CNN.
But the most prophetic analysis of Palin’s inner self came from the woman who beat her out in the Miss Alaska pageant 24 years ago, Maryline Blackburn.
If you haven’t hear all the buzz about Sarah Palin’s “divaship.” This is a must read: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/index.html
One Palin aide said she’s trying to take control of her message, while a McCain adviser is quoted as saying, "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone."
It almost goes without saying that divas are ego-centric people, who listen to no one or nothing but their own egotistical, single-vision inner voices.
But the most prophetic person in all of this is Maryline Blackburn, who nailed Palin for what she is way back when.
Blackburn beat out Palin as Miss Alaska, and at the conclusion of the pageant in 1984, she nailed Palin as “calculating,” “determined,” and is always sizing up people and situations behind her smile.
It appears that nothing has changed in the intervening 24 years, except that Palin’s calculating and determination may have gotten even stronger.
You‘d be wrong if you think Blackburn‘s past association with Palin is influencing her to vote for the beauty pageant runner-up. In spite of the pageant’s Miss Congeniality winner’s note of congratulations to Blackburn, she said she’s firmly in Barack Obama’s camp.
The first hints of Sarah Palin separating herself from John McCain came last week from Rachael Maddow and Keith Olbermann; now it’s all over the Web.
As I write, it’s the first topic on Howard Kurtz’ Reliable Sources on CNN.
But the most prophetic analysis of Palin’s inner self came from the woman who beat her out in the Miss Alaska pageant 24 years ago, Maryline Blackburn.
If you haven’t hear all the buzz about Sarah Palin’s “divaship.” This is a must read: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/index.html
One Palin aide said she’s trying to take control of her message, while a McCain adviser is quoted as saying, "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone."
It almost goes without saying that divas are ego-centric people, who listen to no one or nothing but their own egotistical, single-vision inner voices.
But the most prophetic person in all of this is Maryline Blackburn, who nailed Palin for what she is way back when.
Blackburn beat out Palin as Miss Alaska, and at the conclusion of the pageant in 1984, she nailed Palin as “calculating,” “determined,” and is always sizing up people and situations behind her smile.
It appears that nothing has changed in the intervening 24 years, except that Palin’s calculating and determination may have gotten even stronger.
You‘d be wrong if you think Blackburn‘s past association with Palin is influencing her to vote for the beauty pageant runner-up. In spite of the pageant’s Miss Congeniality winner’s note of congratulations to Blackburn, she said she’s firmly in Barack Obama’s camp.
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