From: lumpy@digitalcartography.com   
      
   nospam@notreal.com wrote:   
   > I wouldn't think one time zone could have two possible dates. I would   
   > think it could get real confusing.  How could 9:00 AM 6/14 be the same   
   > point in time as 9:00 AM 6/15 just because you put a different letter   
   > with it?   
      
   It isn't/doesn't.   
      
   Zulu +12 (MIKE) is west of the Intl Date Line,   
   Marshall Islands, Wake Island, parts of easternmost   
   Russia.   
      
   Zulu -12 (YANKEE) is east of the Intl Date Line,   
   A couple of islands near the tip of Alaska.   
      
   As I type this it's 1512 hrs zulu, Monday 15 June.   
   And it's 0812 hrs local (-7 TANGO) here in Phoenix.   
      
   In the Marshall Islands (+12 MIKE) it's 0312 hrs   
   Tuesday 16 June.   
      
   And at Howland Island (near Alaska, -12 YANKEE)   
   it's 0315 hrs Monday 15 June.   
      
   > I don't see how say 9:00 AM Q is any better than saying 9:00 AM EST -   
   > or is that 9:00 EDST?   
      
   The alpha designators for time zones are independant of   
   daylight savings time. New York is -5 (ROMEO). If it's   
   daylight savings time (as it is now) you would say   
   "JULIET is ROMEO PLUS ONE" to indicate that it's   
   1 hour shifted to the positive (-4 instead of -5).   
      
   JULIET in military alpha designators is local time   
   of the troops. ie "ADVISE JULIET" means "tell me what   
   time it is there in your area"   
      
   The reason ZULU = GMT/UTC is that ZULU starts with Z   
   as does ZERO. GMT/UTC is at ZERO longitude.   
      
   Terms like EST or EDST are local political conventions.   
   The Eastern Bumphukia Parliament may choose to rename it   
   to anything they want with each new dictator. Plus you could   
   (and do) have the same time zone in several political areas.   
   -4 QUEBECK could be called one thing in Venezuela, something   
   else in Paraguay, Greenland etc.   
      
   Instead of re-educating the entire military about new names for the   
   same thing, and learning a dozen different labels depending on   
   which lattitude you're at,  it's simpler to give it a ONE alpha   
   character designator.   
      
   It's also more accurate to communicate.   
   EST, GST, BST, TSV, DSB might all sound close on the radio.   
   QUEBECK is QUEBECK.   
      
   Confused yet?..;-)   
      
   Not all places are on the same minutes past/before the hour.   
   There's nothing from keeping any political body from deciding   
   that when it's 1300 zulu, it's 1745 there in their local country.   
      
   Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iran, India, Parts of Australia,   
   Newfoundland and others are all on "non even hours".   
   Iran, for example, is zulu +3:30. When it's 0700 hrs   
   in Greenwich, it's 1015 hrs in Iran. Iran doesn't have   
   DST because Ahmadinejad abolished it.   
      
   There is an island in Australia that has   
   daylight savings time but it advances it's   
   clocks only 30 minutes, not a full hour.   
      
   There are parts of Australia that, within the same   
   time zone, the northern areas do not observe daylight   
   savings time while the southern areas, in the same   
   longitudes, do observe DST.   
      
   "Daylight Savings Time" is not a universal name.   
   Parts of the world call it "Summer Time".   
      
   Right here in Arizona, we don't observe DST.   
   But the Navaho Indian reservation (within AZ)   
   does observe DST. BUT the Hopi Indian reservation,   
   which is WITHIN the Navaho reservation, does not   
   observe DST.   
      
      
   Lumpy   
      
   In Your Ears for 40 Something Years   
   www.LumpyMusic.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)