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Friday, November 4, 2016

Everything I thought I knew about daylight saving time was wrong.

On the first Sunday in November, millions of people will set their clocks back an hour, marking the end of daylight saving time.

But while this autumnal tradition is engrained in our brains (and the extra hour of sleep circled on our calendars), most of us still don't know the scoop behind this semi-annual event.

Photo by iStock.

But don't worry — I've got you. Let's take a few minutes out of your free hour to bust some myths about why we even have daylight saving time to begin with.

1. This is all because of farmers, right?

Historically, no. It turns out they kind of hate it.

Farmers are known the world over for two things: 1) getting up early and 2) working really hard. But, historically, it's the sun, not the clock that kicks off their day, so while people often blame daylight saving time on the farmers, that time jump is actually really disruptive for them. Shipments and orders still need to be filled at the same time, but there's one less hour of morning daylight to get things done.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

What you might know is that farmers and the agriculture lobby actually fought to repeal daylight saving time in 1919, and it passed after Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson's veto. But, as you may have guessed, that veto didn't last long.

2. OK, but springing forward saves a ton of energy and money, right?

Well, that was the plan anyway.

At the dawn of World War I, Germany thought, "Hey, we should turn the clocks back to help save coal and reduce lighting needs for the war effort." So, in 1916, they became the first country to give it a try (a few places in Canada had tried it before then as well). Before long, other countries were like, "Yeah, they're onto something." Daylight saving time arrived in the U.K. a few weeks later and then in the U.S. (as a temporary measure) in 1918.

After a few more experiments with daylight saving time, the U.S. made it permanent in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act.

Photo by iStock.

But does it actually save us energy? Kind of.

In a 2007 study, economists at the California Energy Commission found that extending daylight saving time a few weeks had little effect on energy use in the state. In fact, the drop was 0.2%, within the study's margin of error. But a 2008 study by the federal energy department found extending daylight saving time saved 0.5% in total electricity each day. It doesn't sound like much, but that's about 1.3 billion kilowatt hours, enough to power 100,000 homes for a year.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

3. But most people like it and that's why everyone participates, right?

Nope. Not quite.

The United States aren't so united on this issue, with Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii electing to sit out the semi-annual time jump. Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa don't participate either.

The U.S. is one of more than 70 countries around the world that observe some form of daylight saving time. (As a reminder, there are just under 200 countries on Earth.)

This clock vendor in Seoul, South Korea, is probably really glad the country doesn't observe daylight saving time. Photo by Ed JonesAFP/Getty Images.

4. Money saving or not, the time change is good for your body and mind, right?

Again, that depends.

The smart folks at Scientific American examined two daylight saving time related health phenomena.

First, the incidence of heart attacks rose about 5% during the first week of daylight, at least according to a study conducted in Sweden in the late-1980s. The same researchers published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008 suggesting the increase may be due to sleep disruptions and biological rhythms getting out of whack.

By the same token, there are fewer automobile versus pedestrian traffic accidents since more people are driving home during sunlight.

Then again, correlation is not causation. So what do I (or those smart folks) know? Basically, the jury's out on this one.

Heart attack? Car accident? Was a time jump (or lack thereof) to blame? Photo by iStock.

5. Fine. But there's definitely an S on "daylight savings," right?

No, I haven't been using the wrong word this entire time. It's daylight saving time. I promise. Google it.

Somewhere along the way, we all made it plural when we started explaining it. But you know what, don't worry about trying to break the habit. Language is fluid. Time is a construct. Just roll with it.

GIF via "Steven Universe."

So, you ask, why are we still trying to make this a thing?

Well, twice a year, plenty of people ask that very question. And the chorus against daylight saving time is growing stronger and stronger at the state level, where elected officials are pushing bills from coast to coast to relegate daylight saving time to the history books.

"What is the use in having this?" Texas State Representative Dan Flynn (R) told the NBC affiliate in Dallas. "And no one has a good reason."

He's not wrong.

But no matter how you feel about daylight saving versus standard time, it's here, and we all get an extra hour this weekend.

My recommendation: Use your hour to do what makes you happy. (And by the way, it's not really an extra hour, it's just the hour the government swiped from you in the spring.) Either way, make the most of it. Sleep in. Volunteer. Take a hike. Catch up on "Luke Cage."

But get going, you only have a few more minutes.

Photo by Haidar Hamdani/AFP/Getty Images.

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As a disabled woman, this is what I have to lose if Donald Trump becomes president.

'In your America, I will have three strikes against me.'

Dear Donald,

As the Republican nominee for president, you’ve made a lot of people angry — including the disabled community.

Last November, you openly mocked New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski and then later denied it. That was enough to potentially lose hundreds — maybe even thousands of voters, but you didn’t stop there.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

You’ve continued to degrade people with disabilities throughout your campaign — and went as far as to ask a crowd of African Americans, “What the hell do you have to lose?” at one of your rallies this past August.

Even though you were specifically addressing that community, I started thinking. As a disabled woman I have a lot to lose too, If you become president.

As a woman with a disability, I'm afraid of what your presidency could mean for me. Even now, I have to work harder to prove myself.

I especially have to work harder as a writer and journalist. It’s a job that has a very high glass ceiling. I’m proud to say I’ve broken through, but I'm still chipping away at some layers. The fact I’m disabled makes it difficult because there’s added pressure to do well every time I write.

But Donald, you’ve made the mountain I climb even steeper with your comments about the disabled and, more recently, your comments about women.

Even now, many aspects of my life have already been compromised and are out of my control.

I don’t want to lose what control I do have — and having that little bit of power makes me feel like I can conquer anything that’s put in front of me. I’m proud to say I am finding my own way in life.

But in “Donald Trump’s America,” women are nothing more than puppets, and disabled folks are especially vulnerable to harassment because you’ve made it seem like all of this is acceptable.

Image via iStock.

If you win on Nov. 8, I have a lot to lose.

I was raised to be strong, but I think my disability has inadvertently made me stronger. My biggest fear is that everything I’ve worked for and built for myself will completely crumble. I keep telling myself, "If I lose my dignity as a disabled woman, he’ll win no matter what." I don’t think I’ll be able to look at myself if that ever happens.

For me, there’s also much more on the line than self pride, though. If America has four years of a Trump presidency ahead, empathy could be a thing of the past. I could just be seen as “a girl in a wheelchair” — the very thing I’ve tried my entire life not to dwell on or call attention to.

In your America, I will have three strikes against me.

I’m a woman who also happens to be a journalist who also has a disability. And Donald, I’ve worked too hard to let a sea of questionable headlines about your candidacy and ethics ruin my life.

Does America really want this kind of uncertainty for the next four years? Do we really deserve this? As President Obama has said numerous times during this election season, “Don’t boo. Vote!”

So, Donald, I'll be voting next week, and it won't be for you.

If you need another look at what I have to lose, I think this commercial featuring Judy Kohn, the mother of a disabled son, will put everything in perspective — period.

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What a person with autism sees during a job interview in 2 eye-opening minutes.

If just hearing the words job and interview together sends chills down your spine, you're not alone.

A whopping 92% of Americans report feeling fearful over the job interview process. And with good reason! What's more torturous than sitting in a room being judged on everything — from your voice and your shoes to each syllable that escapes your mouth — with your potential income and livelihood on the line?

Job interviews are tough. But they can be a whole lot tougher if you have autism.

A gripping new PSA by the U.K.'s National Autistic Society takes you into the mind of someone who has autism to better understand what a job interview might feel like for someone in their shoes:

"Employers don't see my abilities," the video description reads. "They see my autism. They see a problem."

The unemployment rate among people with autism is massive — and not at all reflective of the skills and qualities they offer employers.

As the National Autistic Society points out, just 16% of adults with autism in the U.K. are employed full time, and you'll find similarly alarming figures in the U.S., too.

While finding a job might not be the right fit for some people with autism, the vast majority are able and want to work; they just face many more roadblocks in getting an opportunity to do so.

"Autistic people can have strengths which may be beneficial to employers, such as tenacity and the ability to see things in a different light," said Mark Lever, chief executive of the National Autistic Society. "But they frequently tell us they experience too much information when applying for jobs and at work — for instance, being bombarded by questions [during a job interview], by noisy open plan offices, or with anxieties over following unwritten social rules."

GIF via National Autistic Society.

There are simple ways to make workplaces more welcoming for folks with autism, though.

If you're an employer, subtle changes in your application process and the work environment can make a huge difference.

For instance, many hiring managers default to listing qualities like "has good communication skills" or "is a team player" on applications for roles that don't, in fact, require it. This may dissuade someone with autism from applying even if they have the talents and skill set for the role. You may miss out on landing the perfect candidate.

Inclusive hiring policies aren't just the right thing to do, they're good for business.

Image via iStock.

Most of us aren't employers, though, and there are ways for us to make a difference, too.

First of all, understanding why your colleague with autism might interact differently or do things around the office in their own way is crucial. This isn't because they're rude or inept. They just work and socialize differently than you do.

Being able to listen patiently is a big one. When they go over all the stats from last night's game, hear them out (you might learn something interesting). Don't take it personally if they don't seem interested in your weekend plans — many people who have autism have trouble understanding all the nuances to our unwritten rules around social etiquette. And if they don't make eye contact with you, that's OK, too; it's not because they're impolite. Doing so can be stressful for some people with autism. If they're hesitant to look directly at you, follow their lead and back away from the typical in-your-face way we tend to communicate in the workplace.

Really, it doesn't take all that much to make our world way more accommodating to people with autism. We just have to make the effort.

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What I have to lose if Trump becomes president is intangible, but scary.

As a millennial woman, this is what I have to lose if Trump becomes our president.

“We are going to make America great again!” Trump spits from my screen.

Thousands cheer; millions tremble. Most of us watch, horrified, elated, transfixed.

“He won’t win,” my roommate assures me. “And even if he does, he won’t be able to do all the things he wants to do. There are enough good people… They won’t let him get away with it.”

I nod, and we fall silent.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

For some of us, it’s easy to distance ourselves from this election because it feels so absurd and surreal … like a nightmare unfolding in the palms of our hands.

As long as there’s a screen between us and the fear, as long as presidential debates feel more science fiction than "Black Mirror," we can hide behind sassy sound bites and meticulously manufactured indifference without ever pausing to ask ourselves that terrifying question:

What if Trump actually wins?

But for others of us, this election holds a lot of evident risk.

This August, Trump asked Americans of color what they have to lose if they vote for him. Upworthy staff writer Erin Canty posted a powerful response. And when I read what she had to say, the screen cracked. For the first time, I thoroughly considered the consequences — the true consequences — of a Trump presidency.

As a cisgendered middle-class white woman, I’d never really had to think about it. In this election, my privilege is evident. Trump’s America would be kinder to me than it would to almost any other demographic and that security can make it easy to become complacent.

When I finally set aside the blinders of my privilege, though, I remembered two very important things:

First, I remembered that being an intersectional feminist means concerning myself with the difficulties that all men and women face — and not just those that directly affect me. This is easy to forget and important to remember. There is much at stake in this election, especially for the minority members of our communities.

Second, I am reminded that there are certain losses from which checks and balances cannot protect us. These are losses of a less literal nature that require no legislation, that we would all suffer the second the results of the election reveal my worst fear.

It turns out, in Trump’s America, there’s actually a lot both you and I stand to lose, the least of which has to do with one important idea: hope.

Image via iStock.

1. As a woman, I would lose my self-worth and sense of security.

When you look at his words and actions, Trump’s misogyny paints in vivid detail what life as a woman would look like in his America. It involves women figuratively dropping to their knees, and no, it’s not a "pretty picture."

Trump’s America isn’t one that respects its women. Trump’s America is an America that values us based on the appearance of bodies we aren’t legally allowed to control. It’s an America of legislators that would pass more regulations on my uterus than on a corporation, that would punish women in back alleys but pardon men in locker rooms. It’s an America where you get six months for being a rapist and 16 years for exposing one.

Trump’s America is an America where men have more rights to my body than I do. I can’t feel valued; I can’t feel safe in an America like that.

2. As an American, I would lose my national pride.

America is a flawed country with so much work to do. But when I look back at how far we’ve come, I’m so proud to belong to a nation that always strives to become better than we were.

But how can I be proud of an America that won’t acknowledge its mistakes? An America that condemns the audacity of the first lady reminding us that our nation was built by slaves, yet refuses to see the problem with a country whose government only took one year to kill 102 unarmed black men but 232 years to elect one.

I can’t be proud of an America where guns have more protections than the people who die by them, an America that’s horrified by a transgendered person in the “wrong” bathroom but numb to the news of yet another mass shooting. I can’t be proud of an America of nearly 4 million square miles that only has room for Native Americans on its sports jerseys.

I can’t be proud of Donald Trump’s America, an America that refuses to change.

Image via iStock

3. As a human, I would lose some faith in our future.

Progress is never perfect. There’s no civilization in this world that has only just moved forward. Every now and then, we falter, take a step back, and then find our footing again.

But we can’t afford to fall this far. America needs to keep moving. If we backtrack now, I don’t know how we’ll recover. If we let our fear paralyze us, or turn us on each other, hate will divide us.

At the end of the day, no matter who you’re voting for, one thing is true: We all want America to be great.

I don’t believe in Trump, but I believe in that.

Image via iStock

From now on, I'm making a promise to stop pointing fingers at the “bad people” who made this mess and the “good people” who will fix it. It’s time to take responsibility for my country, to turn my disillusionment into determination and my inaction into incentive.

It’s time to ask ourselves what we can do to make this America one we can believe in.

Let’s get to work.

What the hell do you have to lose?

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The Netherlands held a competition to design new refugee housing. These are the winners.

In 2015, nearly 60,000 refugees arrived in the Netherlands needing a place to live.

The Netherlands is a small country, just more than half the size of West Virginia, so housing all of them was going to be a challenge. As the worldwide refugee crisis continues, innovative solutions are needed so that the people fleeing civil war and sectarian violence have a safe place to live.

Refugees arriving in the Netherlands in January 2016. Photo by Arie Kievit/AFP/Getty Images.

In this case, the solution involved, in part, opening up an old abandoned prison as temporary public housing. It was a less-than-ideal situation to say the least.

The country was determined to do better.

In January 2016, the Netherlands launched a design competition called "A Home Away From Home" in which entrants were tasked with designing temporary housing for refugees and disaster victims.

All of the winning designs rethought the idea of public housing, adding amenities and innovations to make the buildings more like fully functioning homes than simply a bed to sleep on.

The winners of the contest recently appeared on display in Amsterdam as part of Dutch Design Week and included things like solar power, water purification systems, and ingenious use of space and material.