Obsidian Wings

Daylight

by JanieM

From the Wikipedia page on "Permanent Time Observation in the United States":

Permanent standard time is considered by circadian health researchers and safety experts worldwide to be the best option for health, safety, schools, and economy, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Sleep Foundation, American College of Chest Physicians, National Safety Council, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Canadian Sleep Society, World Sleep Society, Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, and several state sleep societies.[10][11][4][12][13][14][15][16][17] Permanent standard time is supported by advocates for school children, including the National PTA, National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, National School Boards Association, and Start School Later. They cite both the health benefits of circadian alignment, and the safety advantages regarding morning commutes.[10][18][19][20]

From a BJ commenter just now:My impression is that a major constituency against year-round DST is parents who don’t want their kids to have to wait for the morning school bus in the dark.

There is an elephant the size of Jupiter in all this advocacy and logic ----- but I will leave that for the comments.

Open thread.

[Edited to add a link to Wikipedia in the first line.]

The Abe legacy and other stuff from over here

by liberal japonicus

Something that might interest some, the Asia-Pacific Journal has a nice collection of articles on the Abe legacy. All of them are from a left of center perspective, so you aren't going to get anything about what a great statesman he was. It is an interesting comparison between Abe, who will have a state funeral, (and currently, the governors of Okinawa, Shizuoka, and Nagano prefectures will not attend) and the reported unity over Elizabeth's death. I don't mean to imply that Abe and Elizabeth is a fair comparison, and the Brits have an edge when it goes for ceremony, but there is nothing here in Japan similar in any way to what is happening in the UK. This also invites a tangent on just what mourning the Queen means. It would be facile, but mistaken I think, to believe that it represents a push towards unity and an opportunity to put aside talk of division in the UK. I mean, even if it were, I feel certain that Truss' tin ear will screw that up. But I do think what you are seeing, which I think doesn't really have any recent parallel, is the sound of a course change, though where that course may go, I'm not really sure.

In fact, here in Japan, now that Abe is gone, the wheels seem to be coming off. An official was arrested in the Olympics bribery scandal and reports in the Japanese media relate claims that he received direct assurances from Abe that he would not face consequences, all of which vanished after Abe's death. Sapporo is trying to get the 2030 Winter Olympics, but because of the scrutiny of the Tokyo bid, they are turning things way down, so they may not have a chance.

A few other interesting bits and pieces
I mentioned that Okinawa's governor, Denny Tamaki, who was just recently reelected for a second term and has stood on a platform of opposing US basing in Okinawa. This piece gives some background on that.

Also, this may interest some, about the problems Japan's new Digital Agency is facing. Anyway, have at it and tell me what I have missed.

When Shooting Yourself in the Foot...

by wj

...be sure to use a gun rest on your knee.

A bunch of Republican candidates for various offices, especially statewide or national offices, were very adamant during the primaries on the subject to their absolute "pro-life" stances. Having won their primaries, they are now busy scrubbing any mention of abortion from their websites, deleting tweets, etc. It's enough to make you think that they are not so lost to reality that they fail to realize it's a general election loser.

But then this week, Senator Graham helpfully introduced his deceptively titled “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act”. Basically, it would create a nationwide ban on abortions after 15 weeks. (Note, as recently as last month he was saying that the issue should be left to states.) It does provide at least nominal exceptions for the life of the mother, for rape, and for incest -- although the hoops required to justify one of those can be daunting.

Republican leaders are freaking out. Because, after all, this makes it far, far harder for Republican candidates to dodge talking about their stances on abortion. Hard to waffle on a straight Yes/No question about "Do you support this bill?" Talk about a boneheaded political move on Graham's part. But maybe it's more important to him to grab headlines than to be part of a Senate majority.

To preserve my reputation for boundless optimism, let me speculate on this. As we saw in Kansas, abortion is a serious loser, even in red states. And red state legislatures are enacting a variety of draconian laws restricting (or flat out banning) abortion. I'm thinking that some of those legislators, who otherwise would be in quite safe seats, may discover that they are in nothing of the kind. Perhaps even to the point that some of those legislatures end up with far smaller Republican majorities. Or even, not majorities -- which could led to some de-gerrymandering, making an even playing field more possible. A long shot, I know (I'm not totally lost to reality). But just imagine if they actually have trashed their position that badly....

Also, because we are overdue, Open Thread.