Solar Days and a Military Blockade

Good morning,

I’m writing this on Thursday, November 16. This weekend I will be heading down to Corvallis to watch the Oregon State Beavers play the University of Washington Huskies. By the time this publishes, the game will be over, and I will be gloating to my partner Mary (UW alum) about the total beatdown the Beavs just delivered to the Huskies. I hope this ages well.

Anyways!

The November 19th Weekly Three

• Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin literally tried to fight a Union boss during Senate hearing this week.

• Per The New York Times: “The gap in life expectancy between men and women in the United States grew to its widest in nearly 30 years, driven mainly by more men dying of Covid and drug overdoses, according to a new study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.”

• Biden and Chinese President Dictator Xi Jinping sat down together on Wednesday in San Francisco, for an annual summit.

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Solar vs. Standard Time

Today I left the gym at 4:30pm, and the sun was already visibly setting. Every year without fail daylight savings makes the majority of Americans question the purpose of losing a whole hour of sunlight. For me it raises a more subtle observation: how else does sunlight and the time zones we operate in impact our lives?

The concept of a time zone is of course an artificially created one;. Something we humans implement in our countries to keep the days our populations experience organized and succinct. But not all time zones are created equal, and the time zone a country decides on can have a subtle impact on its culture.

Its all due to the difference between standard time (the time zone we live in) and solar time, which is the actual hours in the day the sun is visible in the sky. You may think these are the same, but they actually are quite different depending on where you live.

Take for example the difference between the US and Europe. Here in the US, we have a collective four time zones covering a three hour window, divided across the 2700 plus miles that separate the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts. Or about ~700 miles per time zone.

For me living in Seattle, the sun is more or less setting at the same time as for a person living at the eastern edge of the pacific time zone. But this time zone organization stands in pretty stark contrast with the European continent.

While our time zones are roughly divided across the continent east to west, in Europe, there is basically one big time zone stretching from Spain to Poland. What this means is that where the sun is in the sky at 6pm for Spain is a lot different than where it appears at 6pm for people living further east.

If you have ever been to Spain, you will know they are notorious for how late they eat dinner, with citizens regularly dining after 9pm. The reason is because their solar day (when the sun is visible) starts much later in the day than their eastern counterparts.

In Poland, the sun currently rises around 7am, and sets at 3:45pm (those poor souls). Even though Spain operates in the same Central European time zone, their sunrise and sunset is over an hour later. Take a look at the map below, you may need to zoom in.

This map wonderfully illustrates the difference between solar time and standard time across the globe.

Human beings, like most creatures, have circadian rhythms hardwired around when the sun is visible. We may not think about it day to day, but that big glowing orb in the sky has a lot of influence on when we eat, when we socialize, and when we sleep. But because we designate certain geographic areas to certain time zones, the way a culture’s daily habits evolve can be heavily influenced by where that culture exists in comparison to solar time.

After reading all this, you may be wondering, what’s the largest difference between solar time and standard on earth? That particular record belongs to the Afghan-Chinese border, where crossing said border is a whopping three and half hour time difference. Oof.

A Blockade on Military Promotions

Imagine you work at a company that has decided to freeze all employee promotions. Now imagine that freeze has been in place for nine months; not due to fiscal issues, not due to merit, but because of one single person’s view on a personal social issue.

This is the exact situation our US military has found itself in, all thanks to one man: US Senator Tommy Tuberville, representing Alabama. You see, one of the tasks the Senate collectively oversees is approving the promotions of top military personnel. The way this works is simple: all 100 US senators must unanimously agree on promotions before they are approved. The concept makes sense on paper as it creates bipartisan collaboration to ensure US military readiness.

In the history of the US, this process has always been on auto-pilot. Until 2023.

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, roughly half of all states in the US initiated strict abortion policies; many resorting to 6-week restrictions, which is in essence a total ban, because you know, biology.

But the overturning of that ruling created a more complex situation for our military. Now, woman choosing to serve in the armed forces were suddenly faced with the loss of another choice: because they could be stationed or moved to states that had strict abortion policies, they faced a reality where they could become pregnant, but have no financial or legal means of leaving their station to receive an elective abortion.

The Biden administration acted quickly to address this specific issue. In October, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued an order that says “The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops and their dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal, according to a new department policy released Thursday. The military will also increase privacy protections for those seeking care.”

Sen. Tuberville really, really did not like that decision, and as a result has decided to individually hold up the promotions of 400 (and growing) military officers. In his words, Tommy “cannot simply sit idly by while the Biden administration injects politics in our military from the White House and spends taxpayers’ dollars on abortion,”

This has two pretty alarming effects on the miliary:

• Sexual assault in the military is unfortunately quite common. About one third of female service officers reported being the victim of sexual assault in 2021. If the Pentagon did not pay for abortion related travel and healthcare, these woman in states that do not have rape exceptions for abortions would have no legal options.

• Tuberville’s hold delays hundreds of promotions of generals and admirals, including the Pentagon’s top leaders who make up the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including the chairman. So the delay on promotions has a very direct impact on military function and readiness.

Sen. Tuberville stands very alone on this issue and has drawn increasing ire from both Democrats and his own party. Even Mitch McConnell (may he be remembered in death as he treated others in life) is on the record strongly disagreeing with Tuberville’s hold.

Sen. Tuberville’s play here is a complete gambit. Rather than put forth any policy of his own related to the Pentagon’s funding of abortion travel, he has said he wants Democrats to bring a bill to the table themselves for a vote. His goal is force Democrats to compromise on their abortion stance, and look bad. It’s an optics play.

There’s good news on this front though. As of this week, a Senate panel tied to this issue voted through a resolution that would allow for the quick confirmation of hundreds of military nominees to maneuver around the blockade from Sen. Tuberville.

Tommy Tuberville is looking like he will be left with nothing to show for his efforts besides tarnished party relationships, and a name that fits perfectly for the pouty toddler he is personifying.