Venezuela’s Weird Decision to Tamper with Time

Starting September, Venezuela is turning its clocks back 30 minutes, reports Reuters. Not one hour, but half-an-hour. Thirty minutes.

According to Hector Navarro, Venezuela’s Science and Technology Minister, the time change will help in a number of areas. For one, poor kids that get up before sunrise for school will now get up when it’s sunny. And the time change will help people’s metabolism.

"Very rigorous scientific studies have determined that ... the metabolic activity of living beings is synchronized with the sun's light," said Navarro.

But he’s not done there. Additional measures are in the works to “make more effective use of time.”

I know you can hardly control your laughter at this point. But is this really crazy? Does it make me a commie sympathizer, a blacklisted pinko, are my phones tapped for not outright bashing this move?

Tell you what, let’s look at Venezuelan productivity and health numbers in five years to find out who gets the last laugh here.