LETTER FROM THE EDITOR--OF TIME AND MONEY
It's never discussed, but on the night of Daylight Saving Time, there is a hilarious national scurrying of people changing the time; standing on chairs to change clocks on the wall, getting irritated because they can't figure out how to change their wristwatch, wondering if the electronic alarm clock will change by itself; even forgetting to reset an important one, resulting in surreal disbelief at finding oneself an hour late.
The whole thing of changing time to get more daylight originated with, yes, wise old Benjamin Franklin. He was in Paris in 1784, and wrote a newspaper editorial called "An Economical Project," in which he suggested that changing time to create longer daylight would save energy and money, people would not need as much lamp oil and candles and could go on working. A lot of energy has always been used for lighting, but Daylight Saving Time (there's no 's') was supposed to cut energy use by a small amount every day, thus saving money.
Now, suddenly, there are a bunch of studies that show it does no such thing. Oh, my, who to believe? Is that twice-a-year clock frenzy really useless?
I have no way of knowing. That leads to the realization that I have no way of knowing a lot of important things. For example, I don't know if the facts being reported are true in what the U. S. Military is saying; that violence is not escalating in Iraq. Despite several recent mass bombings that killed dozens of civilians; the Pentagon says violence is down by 60 per cent.
Is that true? We have no way of knowing what the facts are. Reporters don't hunker down with the troops in this war, and press access is controlled on every level. We're all fed the news we get.
For example, we are only now beginning to think about the cost of the Iraq war. One noted economist said it is costing three million dollars a day; two billion dollars a week. The figure of more than one trillion is being bandied about. It is hard to even grasp the concept of a trillion dollars. It would pay off everyone's mortgage; not just those who got patsied into predator loans, but everyone; it could pay off the mortgage of every American who is paying off their home. And still the Military asks for more money. And gets it.
So how is this money spent? Again, we have no way of knowing. Investigators may try to follow the money, but the money trails diverge and loop back on themselves; it's not straight bookkeeping, the figures are too confusing to track.
Most of the money is paid to private businesses to deliver goods and services to the troops. Yet these companies are not held to any financial accountability; or even job performance. Only now is it coming out that Halliburton is involved in yet another incident that put American troops at risk. This time it was in the "secondary" water the company was paid to supply, through its then-subsidary, KBR. This is water used for brushing teeth, washing hands, bathing, doing laundry. Soldiers suddenly began falling ill with skin infections, abscesses, severe diarrhea and other water-borne diseases. It was learned that Halliburton/KBR had provided untreated contaminated secondary water; not up to the standards detailed in the contract.
Halliburton denied it, despite overwhelming proof. This, you may remember, is the company that has been accused numerous times of monstrous overcharges billed to the U. S. military. Who keeps hiring them? We have no way of knowing. Who, if anyone, is in charge of investigating whether these contractors are giving good value for America's money or being paid vastly inflated sums for sub-standard work, and why is this department not doing its job?
We have no way of knowing. But American taxpayers need to know how their money is being spent, just for one. Just for another, I'm thinking that even if Daylight Saving Time doesn't save money and energy, the long evenings of summer are so pleasant that it doesn't matter.
Wina Sturgeon, Editor