Who orders you to comply with the "legal" TIME on the Clocks ?
Perhaps unexpectedly, CLR recently queried as to who the "Authorities" were who cause you to shift the time on your watch ?
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It is more complicated than you would expect !
Obviously the politicians in the government of the country concerned appeared to have decided that for you - sometimes about 100 years ago (as in Spain and France). They did so without much idea of how that would affect life in 2000 +. Indeed, in Spain, they did not realise the eventual effects in 1912 and 1918 - which in no way conformed with their ideas - except to make the Spanish people go to work and school at a ridiculously early time in the mornings (in realtime sundial time).
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BUT, there are even higher "Authorities" concerned in this. There is another "Geneva Convention" in force since an international agreement made 100 years ago. Reflecting on the decision made then in the agreement, it is rather strange that the World´s governments did not have Paris, France as the centre for the Time Standard for everyone -as Paris was for every other standard imaginable!
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Instead, the World chose Greenwich Observatory near London as the Time Standard location in the World - devising the set of 24 "TIME ZONES" around the World at every 15 degrees E/W of logitude measured from Greenwich. (The instruction of the agreement was in a sense advisory, the government concerned with your location had to "ratify" the agreement - but the politicians had the power to change the accepted advice ! ).
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France was thoroughly upset aboutr the agreement, but had no option but to comply in some kind of way (otherwise to be out of step with the World by about 7 minutes difference from the basic time. - Instead, France chose to use the time allocated to "Berlin - Rome" so putting clocks fast by more than one hour with respect to the sundial in France - especially in the West of France !
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It was unfortunate for life in the 21st Century that Spain followed that path in around 1912 so that in San Fernando, Cadiz, the clocks were made about ONE and a HALF hours faster than the Sun from that time forwards - since the people were forced to obey that time - effectively one hour earlier than before - to go to work !
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Strangely, that was the only compliance in general with the demand of the politicians - for the rest of the 24 hours virtually everyone - including the officials, did just as they liked - obeying the sundial instead nof the clockwork. ( Naturally, they soon learned the new timing from the children and had all remaining activities about one hour later than before ).
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However, not learning from the experience, the politicians then added a further hour faster from the Summer onwards to double the difference acieved before (that is, in 1918 after the 1912 fiasco . Of course, since the Summer Sun is so powerful here, the people again ignoed the clockwork - except for now going to work and school at two hours earlier in the morning than before 1912 !
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That has contnued for the 100 years - although Franco actually stopped the Summer frolics after 1949 - only to have the government reverse to ndouble summertime (double daylight saving time) in 1974 !
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Thye Geneva "Convention" does force you to comply with the agreement if you happen to cross the Pacific Ocean ! That "Authority" has the Captain telling you that you have no alternative but to change the date of the current day there! You "gain a day" or "lose a day" depending on the E/W direction of your travel .
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In Europe there are at least two other "Authorities" conspiring to keep to the current time conditions in France and Spain - they are The European Union and the NATO military. Both would prefer all the countries in the Union to show the same time on their clocks - but that is out of the question, because life would be even starger than it is in Spain for the other countries !
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CLR says that the life in the Shetland Islands (Far further North than Scotland) would appear to have no tim eauthorities.
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That is right in many respects trhere. Only for a very few days around the First of Spring and the First of Autumn is there any kind of daily rhythm to see with the Sun. The rest of the year CLR could time life more or less at random - with the exception of possible work time and shopping time. The ruling time would be that of events on satellite television ! Thus CLR has some strange outlook on time shown on clocks!
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Cadiz, September 5, 2009.
[ 10:36 ] [ Saturday 5 September 2009 ]