If you think Daylight Saving Time is a big hassle, consider the clockwork tyranny inherent in Russia’s proposed downsizing of its 11 timezones:

[Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev didn’t say how extensive any cut would be, but Vladivostok Economics University rector Gennady Lazarev told the RIA Novosti news agency it would likely mean shrinking to just four time zones: One each for Kaliningrad, Moscow, the Ural Mountains region and the vast reaches of Siberia and the Far East…

Cutting down to four zones would likely mean reducing the seven-hour time difference between Moscow and Vladivostok to just four hours, Lazarev said. In that case, residents of the Pacific coast city would see the sunset before 3 p.m. at this time of year.

The justification is economic efficiency and fostering closer ties to the central government. Apparently by instilling nocturnalism in Siberians. All told, I’d rather turn the clock backward or forward every few months…