September 20, 2007
FURTHER BACK THAN THE 1930s?:
Confusion reigns as timelord Chavez turns back clocks in Venezuela (David Usborne 21 September 2007, Independent)
"Welcome to Caracas and thank you for flying Chavez Air. The time is... (pause, chuckle, clearing of throat)... the time is... We are not quite sure. Please move your watches half an hour forward. Actually, no, sorry, move them half an hour back. Thank you."Posted by Orrin Judd at September 20, 2007 8:00 PMSo far President Hugo Chavez has not named an airline after himself. This could, however, be the scene on board airliners arriving in the Venezuelan capital next Monday, when, in theory at least, the country will have adopted a new time zone. Whether it will actually happen is still a matter of confused conjecture.
News that Mr Chavez was pondering the time shift first surfaced at the end of August. Only now is he telling his citizens to be ready for the one-off shift on Monday, meaning that they must put their clocks back by 30 minutes at midnight on Sunday.
Newfoundland time?
And this must be a taste of what Rome was like under some of the less sane emperors.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at September 21, 2007 9:43 AMFrom Woody Allen's Bananas (1971) after Esposito takes over a South American country.
Esposito: From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old!
Fielding Mellish: What's the Spanish word for straitjacket?