Tired of Being Tired
The United States Senate unanimously passed a measure called the Sunshine Protection Act. The act would make daylight savings time (DST) permanent starting in 2023. In other words, we’d spring ahead and never have to fall back again – for the first time since 1918.
One can only hope that Speaker Pelosi and President Biden support the legislation since they have not signaled support or opposition.
Our current practice of returning to ‘Standard Time’ is an archaic holdover from a time long since passed. It is a nuisance that quite frankly wastes winter and traps many people in seasonal depression.
In1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote a satirical letter to the editor proposing the notion to conserve candle usage. In 1895, a New Zealand entomologist proposed the idea to make it easier to collect insects. In 1907, it was proposed as a way to save energy.
What finally prompted its adoption was our entrance into World War I in an effort to save energy (not the urban myth that farmers desired DST – they were strongly opposed).
With DST made permanent, workers will actually be able to see the sun when they return home in the winter months, instead of only briefly seeing the sun during their rush to work.
Children too will enjoy the change, as they will have more daylight to enjoy afterschool activities. And surely restaurants and downtown areas will not complain that people can stay out later.
It is the right decision to make for today’s America.
Pass the Sunshine Act. That is the message. This is The Messenger.
Bail Reform Bailed Billy
We teach children that when they make mistakes, it is best to fix them. When they break a prized family possession or, well, act like children, they best apologize and make amends.
We teach this to children while they are young so that they behave responsibly in the future; this is especially important if your child happens to grow up to be a state senator.
Well, regrettably, much of our state senate and assembly must have been quite a prideful lot in their youths to not make amends with a mistake they have recently made – bail reform. It was one thing to argue that bail disproportionately impacted the poor and kept people languishing in prisons without a trial. We should always strive to be fair. But now, only a short while later, we have far surpassed fairness. Now, more stories are coming forward every day of innocent people being victimized by frequent offenders and judges unable to protect our communities.
The judiciary has its hands tied in the matter, as both the law and their budget is determined by the legislature.
So, we say to the Legislature: if you want quick trials, then hire more judges. If you want prisons to be less cramped, build more beds, invest in community programs, and teach prisoners skills. If you are unhappy with the penalty of a crime, then change it. If you want to reach these ends, don’t do it by reaching into our courtrooms and handcuffing our judges. Don’t do it by harming the innocent. And please, don’t dismiss the victims of families as sad anecdotes.
What happened to the Steinberg family will continue to happen if Albany can’t admit its shortcomings with this policy ‘Billy’s Law’ would only change the bail law by making third and fourth-degree arson bailable offenses, that’s it. This means that if someone purposefully ignited a fire or set off an explosion, the judge would be able to hold them in jail until they posted bail. These are felonies in our state, and clearly, as seen by the death of Billy Steinberg, they can be violent. Both violent crimes and felonies were purported by Democrats in the legislature to remain bailable offenses when they proposed bail reform. What changed?
Unless ‘Billy’s Law’ is passed, expect more preventable crimes like this to take place. Expect the worst, because hoping for the best is worthless if it is not predicated on the action.
Passing this law is the first action that can be taken to undo part of the failed program of ‘suicide by kindness’ the legislature passed in bail reform.
Pass ‘Billy’s Law.’
That is the Message. This is The Messenger.
