I get to be the first to do the Annual Rant Against Daylight Saving Time. What are we saving it for? The Long Day's Journey into Night? Anyway, back to the rant:

There are, according to the Department of Transportation, three goals accomplished by the observance of Daylight Saving Time.

1. It cuts down on crime, since people who commit crimes tend to do so after dark. People are less likely to be victims of crime when their waking active hours are synched with the hours of light.

I'd love to see some statistics verifying this, since the actual number of hours of dark are unaffected (the rotation of planets is royally unconcerned with human foolishness). If people's homes and vehicles are left unattended--day or night--they are in danger of burglary. Murder happens in broad daylight as well as under the cover of dark. Computer crimes, bribes, embezzlements, Enrons, Halliburtons are unrelated to dark/light cycles. "Peeping Tom" crimes would be more likely, with people at home (with the lights on) at night.

2. DST saves lives. Traffic accidents are more likely to happen in the dark, says the Dept. of Trans.

I work in a transportation industry. Our experience is that the change from one time schedule to another, both forward and back, corresponds to an increase in traffic accidents, as drivers' systems seem to be upset by a shift in schedule and they are as a consequence more irritable and/or tired and therefore unsafe behind the wheel. The upsurge in accidents can last as long as two weeks (depending on the weather) and then goes back to normal numbers.

3. The most ludicrous argument for the continuance of Daylight Saving Time is that it saves energy. The perpetuation of this myth is a fine example of how easy it is to bamboozle a pseudo-educated public.

Business and manufacturing are by far the greatest users of energy. Households use only a small fraction of the output. So, look around during the daylight hours. Yes, the houses' lights are off (though the refrigerator is still running).

But in factories and offices across the land the power consumption continues unabated, day or night. In my work area, for instance, all the lights are on all day, whether it's bright sunlight or deep gloom outside, as are the computers and the heat/air conditioning (sealed building). So where is the vaunted saving of energy?

It's a myth and a symbol of ignorance and it irks me.