Lebanon Reverses Decision To Delay Daylight Savings Time Change (bbc.com) 27
Lebanon's government has reversed a decision to delay the shift to daylight savings time by a month, which had sparked both anger and confusion. The BBC reports: Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that clocks would now go forward on Wednesday night. He had agreed to a delay last week so Muslims could break their fasts earlier during the holy month of Ramadan. But Christian authorities defied the order and changed their clocks as usual on Sunday, which was the last in March. Many businesses, media outlets and educational institutions followed suit, leaving people living in one of the smallest countries in the Middle East struggling to deal with two different time zones.
Mr Mikati, who is a Sunni Muslim, insisted on Monday that his initial decision to delay the time change until 20 April to "relieve" those fasting during Ramadan had not been for "sectarian reasons", adding: "A decision like this should not have triggered such sectarian responses." He blamed the deep political and religious divisions that have resulted in parliament being unable to agree on a new president since October and a caretaker cabinet with limited powers being left to run the country. "The problem is not summer time or winter time... The problem is the presidential vacuum."
Mr Mikati, who is a Sunni Muslim, insisted on Monday that his initial decision to delay the time change until 20 April to "relieve" those fasting during Ramadan had not been for "sectarian reasons", adding: "A decision like this should not have triggered such sectarian responses." He blamed the deep political and religious divisions that have resulted in parliament being unable to agree on a new president since October and a caretaker cabinet with limited powers being left to run the country. "The problem is not summer time or winter time... The problem is the presidential vacuum."
Wrong (Score:4, Insightful)
"The problem is not summer time or winter time... The problem is the presidential vacuum."
The problem is religion. For all intents and purposes, Leganese are one people. It is their choice of religion which is the problem.
It's like the Palestinians and Jews (those who have lived there for centuries). They're the same people separated by two religions.
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But... some animals are more equal than others!
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In this care, some animals are more edible than others.
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> For all intents and purposes ... It's like the Palestinians and Jews (those who have lived there for centuries). They're the same people separated by two religions
That is debatable. Many consider religion to be a large part of what people one is a part of.
Granted there's geography too, and others, so when he states "the problem is the presidential vacuum" I don't think it's the only problem but it's reasonably a large or significant part of the problem.
Re:Wrong (Score:5, Interesting)
That is debatable. Many consider religion to be a large part of what people one is a part of.
No, it's not. Genetic testing shows they're the same people [sciencedaily.com]. And why wouldn't they be? They come from the same are and have been intermarrying for centuries.
One such report [theguardian.com] was withdrawn because it countered Jews "special people" status they like to trot.
The paper, 'The Origin of Palestinians and their Genetic Relatedness with other Mediterranean Populations', involved studying genetic variations in immune system genes among people in the Middle East.
In common with earlier studies, the team found no data to support the idea that Jewish people were genetically distinct from other people in the region. In doing so, the team's research challenges claims that Jews are a special, chosen people and that Judaism can only be inherited.
Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East share a very similar gene pool and must be considered closely related and not genetically separate, the authors state. Rivalry between the two races is therefore based 'in cultural and religious, but not in genetic differences', they conclude.
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Jews are a special, chosen people and that Judaism can only be inherited.
I don't see how the study can challenge it, it is made up by tradition its only justification is God said so. You can't displute it with scientific data, unless you can prove what God said with that data.
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That is debatable. Many consider religion to be a large part of what people one is a part of.
No, it's not. Genetic testing shows they're the same people [sciencedaily.com]. And why wouldn't they be? They come from the same are and have been intermarrying for centuries.
One such report [theguardian.com] was withdrawn because it countered Jews "special people" status they like to trot.
So I guess my second and main point stands.
On the expression "the same people", you can define that as a group of people that more or less fit into a group that covers a relatively wide average level of genetic relatedness. I tend not to. Come to think of it, maybe I prefer to use the expression more towards the species level.
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By the way, good Guardian link to the study on relatedness.
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"Genetic testing shows they're the same people"
Genetic testing is incapable of showing that they're the same people because what makes a people is more than just genetics.
Re:Wrong (Score:5, Informative)
The things that make "a people" a people are a collection of weird customs and beliefs and occasionally a bit of irrelevant genetics. Religion, being a collection of weird customs and beliefs, is a sizeable subset.
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Really? You're gonna make this about the religion? I think the problem is more fundamental than that. I think the problem is people who are always trying to escalate mundane disagreements.
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Also, of course, plenty of interference from Lebanon's neighbours and others.
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"DST proposal causes sectarian violence in America."
I could see several paths to this scenario in America.
Joodaism and "the Leganese" aren't 0.5 of them.
It’s not like their government has (Score:5, Insightful)
But clearly their entire government can band together in order to deal with this absolutely important 1-hour clock issue.
Context ... (Score:4, Informative)
Lebanon has been a dysfunctional country at various levels in past two decades or so.
The political system is sectarian, with certain executive positions reserved for a particular sect (e.g. President -> Maronite Christian, Prime Minister -> Sunni Muslim, something else Druze, another Shia Muslim). This leads to widespread corruption.
Just before the pandemic there were widespread protests [foreignpolicy.com], mainly by the younger demographic, against that system. They fizzled out as social distancing was needed.
Then there was the large explosion in Beirut's sea port, which devastated parts of the city.
The economy started to suffer before the rest of the world suffered inflation.
Banks stopped withdrawals for fear of implosion, and to prevent the dollarization of the economy.
The currency goes down against the dollar further in the evening than what it was in the morning!
And while all that is happening, there are scandals after scandal ...
For example the younger Hariri (prime minister for a while) paid a South African model $16 million [nytimes.com]!
And Mikati and hundreds of officials have their wealth hidden offshore [aljazeera.com].
All this lead to the moment of a split time zone system for a little while ... Just a small problem among much larger problems ...
Ramadan (Score:5, Insightful)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but... Ramadan is from sunrise to sunset so the time shown on anybody's clock makes no frikkin' difference.
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True, and I am no expert its just a guess but if you wake up at say 8am the time till sunset is less than if you wake up at 7am.
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If I was Muslim I'd switch my waking hours into the night.
It's not cheating, it's playing by the rules. Not my fault that whoever wrote them didn't figure that little loophole out.
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Religious rules puzzle me.
I can see the reasoning for having rules 2000 years ago, to help avoid diseases etc. But that people still stick to them is beyond comprehension
The most amusing one is the alleged definition of beaver as a fish:
https://blogs.scientificameric... [scientificamerican.com]
Judaism has it's own quirks with rules and workarounds:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Getting back on topic:
DST should be abolished, but it can't be done (or changed) on a whim. Systems need time to update their timezone database.
I was hopi
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The most amusing one is the alleged definition of beaver as a fish
I was pretty amused when I read what "Sabbath Mode" was for on my oven.
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"I was pretty amused when I read what "Sabbath Mode" was for on my oven."
You can also get timer-driven controls for your light switches so you can avoid working them during the Sabbath.
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I would think that Sabbath Mode would violate the law against doing "creating work" on a Sabbath since you must not only not do it yourself, you must not make a servant do it either. Since the rule applies not only to humans but also to your working creatures, it would make sense that it extends to non-living servants as well.
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If I was Muslim I'd switch my waking hours into the night.
It's not cheating, it's playing by the rules.
If you're not senselessly suffering to appease a non-existent entity then you're not religious. Anything that makes your religion less absurd is cheating. Your job is to fear and worship not to challenge in a game of word interpretation.
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You've obviously never seen an orthodox Jew try to skirt Sabbath laws.
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I have not, because I wouldn't consider someone trying to skirt Sabbath laws an orthodox Jew as much as someone pretending to be religious (likely due to peer pressure).
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Oh buddy, you have NO idea.
Great decision (Score:2)
That'll surely clear up all the confusion that the delay caused!