Please Set Your Watches To Mecca Time.

[dfuze]

At a conference in Doha in 2008, [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Muslim [COLOR=#366388 ! important]clerics[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and scholars presented "scientific" arguments that Mecca time is the true global meridian. They said that Mecca is the centre of the world and that the Greenwich standard was imposed by the west in 1884.

Any ideas what their claims of scientific arguments are?

 

[Jeff7]

"Before, we heard and saw famous clocks in the West. But today we can as Muslims be proud of this giant project," said Ahmed Haleem, an Egyptian living in the Muslim holy city.

Well, I guess it's nice to have things to aspire to.......
Yay, a big clock.


So I wonder, how does Mecca Time compare to atomically-derived UTC time?

 

[brandonbull]

I wonder if they use exploding sticks of dynamite in place of the bells?

 

[Sclamoz]

Any ideas what their claims of scientific arguments are?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixfk4LsKWnw

I'm sure it's something stupid along these lines.

 

[Orignal Earl]

Saudi Arabia hopes the four faces of the new clock, which will loom over Mecca's Grand Mosque from what is expected to be the world's second tallest building, will establish Mecca as an alternate time standard to the Greenwich median.

An alternate time standard eh...

"We in Mecca hope to be the world's central time zone, and not just have a clock to look at, to show off," he said.

What does that even mean? Is there a world's central time zone?

That would make it the world's second tallest building -- ahead of Taiwan's 509 metre (1,670 feet) Taipei 101, but well behind the Burj Khalifa, the 828 metre (2,717 feet) skyscraper inaugurated in Dubai in January.

Im scared of heights, but at the same time I love being up there. I suppose its the rush. I got dizzy just watching that video posted in OT from the top of the Dubai building

On special Muslim occasions, 16 bands of vertical lights will shoot some 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) up into the sky.

cool

 

[Orignal Earl]

DP

 

[Bateluer]

At a conference in Doha in 2008, Muslim clerics and scholars presented "scientific" arguments that Mecca time is the true global meridian

Wut?

 

[Bateluer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixfk4LsKWnw

I'm sure it's something stupid along these lines.

The radiation is infinite!

 

[dfuze]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixfk4LsKWnw

I'm sure it's something stupid along these lines.

That guy on the left looked a little bored.

Sincerely hope that isn't the type of scientific info they are basing those claims on.

 

[santz]

lol, this is so funny i am crying!

 

[GroundedSailor]

ok so if the world became mecca time then would we have to redo all the longitude lines and make Mecca 0?

The prime meridian which is 0 longitude is, ultimately, an arbitrary reference. It was probably chosen due to its popularity as Britain had the largest fleet back in the 1800's and it was their reference taken from Greenwich Observatory.

Scientifically there is no basis for any meridian to be the prime meridian. It's basically a point of reference and one can choose any meridian anywhere on earth to be the prime.

So Mecca can claim they want to be 0 but the world has already agreed on Greenwich. Good luck changing that today. It would be a huge cost to reprogram all satellites , GPS receivers, maps, charts etc. etc.


..

 

[Robor]

The prime meridian which is 0 longitude is, ultimately, an arbitrary reference. It was probably chosen due to its popularity as Britain had the largest fleet back in the 1800's and it was their reference taken from Greenwich Observatory.

Scientifically there is no basis for any meridian to be the prime meridian. It's basically a point of reference and one can choose any meridian anywhere on earth to be the prime.

So Mecca can claim they want to be 0 but the world has already agreed on Greenwich. Good luck changing that today. It would be a huge cost to reprogram all satellites , GPS receivers, maps, charts etc. etc.
..

Good luck indeed. We (the US) were too stubborn to switch to the Metric System. I doubt we'll go along with this 'just because'.

 

[Rainsford]

The prime meridian which is 0 longitude is, ultimately, an arbitrary reference. It was probably chosen due to its popularity as Britain had the largest fleet back in the 1800's and it was their reference taken from Greenwich Observatory.

Scientifically there is no basis for any meridian to be the prime meridian. It's basically a point of reference and one can choose any meridian anywhere on earth to be the prime.

So Mecca can claim they want to be 0 but the world has already agreed on Greenwich. Good luck changing that today. It would be a huge cost to reprogram all satellites , GPS receivers, maps, charts etc. etc.


..

And as you point out, it's totally arbitrary anyways...we live on a sphere, not a flat plane. There is no "central" time zone.

 

[peonyu]

It is the center of the world. When Muslims prey they face Mecca. So this makes sense. I expect Obama to come out in support of this resolution so it does not offend Muslim-Americans.

 

[GroundedSailor]

Good luck indeed. We (the US) were too stubborn to switch to the Metric System. I doubt we'll go along with this 'just because'.

Actually that switch is slowly happening. Auto makers have long switched to the metric system. In Delaware for example, all state contracts are based on the metric system but they do attach a sheet of conversion factors and acceptable equivalents.

Wikipedia has some interesting details on metrication in the US.


..

 

[squirrel dog]

don't hold your breath . Fuck muslims and the camel they rode in on .

 

[KMFJD]

It is the center of the world. When Muslims prey they face Mecca. So this makes sense. I expect Obama to come out in support of this resolution so it does not offend Muslim-Americans.

Only 39 posts before some idiot shits in the thread, congrats!

 

[TheVrolok]

Ha. Yeah I don't see that happening.

 

[LtPage1]

They do raise a good point on using the Greenwich meridian. It's essentially a glorification of the death the British Empire brought all over the world through its death ships. It's an artifact from one of the bloodiest eras of human history. Why not change it to something that doesn't glorify death? It's macabre as it is right now.

Because you have to arbitrarily pick something, and we're all used to GMT. There are bigger problems we should be working on.

 

[Infohawk]

Ridiculous and laughable. London is a fine arbitrary center as it is. Paris has the International Bureau of Weights and Measurements. New York has the UN. Its not a big deal. Maybe if Saudi Arabia had contributed anything to science or international culture in the past couple hundred years it could be different.

Because you have to arbitrarily pick something, and we're all used to GMT. There are bigger problems we should be working on.

You're missing the point. He's a bizarre anti-European troll. He attempts to turn any topic, whether it's about organic food or standard time, into Europe-bashing. It's just about the only thing he posts about.