Chavez

Venezuelans turned their clocks back 30 minutes Sunday in the latest measure by President Hugo Chavez to revolutionize their lives.

I thought he'd already done this:

But critics called it an arbitrary move by a socialist leader who has already redesigned the national flag, renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, after independence hero Simon Bolivar, and plans to launch a new currency, the ''strong bolivar,'' in 2008.

The change ''affects even the biological functioning of the body, which is scientifically proven,'' he said Sunday.

Street vendor Maria Luz Garcia, 74, said she doesn't see much sense to the 30-minute adjustment and that it's being done simply ''because that man likes to change things like that.''

Garbage collector Jose Hernandez, 48, said he thinks the time change is a sound policy that will benefit Venezuelans.

''Children can wake up later,'' he said. AP

And if the children put their shoes on a half hour later, they won't wear out shoes so fast. It's just a win - win - win - win - win - win - win - win situation. I can see now why Sean Penn calls this man a genius, and President Bush an idiot. Course, if President Bush ordered the clocks set back a half hour, it would mean the children couldn't go home from school until a half hour later.