Medvedev: It’s just a matter of time zones

Image via Wikipedia

I am watching President Dmitry Medvedev’s state of the country address in an accoustically unfriendly marble hall and was amazed to hear the following proposal: reduce the number of time zones in Russia.

Russians, he said, are proud of the fact that their country spans 11 time zones. “To them, it is an indicator of the greatness of the country’s size,” he said. “But how does this affect the country’s development?” he wondered. Does it maybe cost too much money to deal with all those time zones?  Do they necessitate too many complexities and too much expensive technology? Maybe it’s time, he said, to reduce the number of time zones to spur Russia’s development.

Good God. I’m putting this up there with George W. Bush railing against human-animal hybrids in his 2006 State of the Union Address.