the tail wags the dog

From: Steve Allen <sla_at_UCOLICK.ORG>
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:08:53 -0800

On Sat 2006-01-21T23:19:53 -0700, Neal McBurnett hath writ:
> Right. These statements are in direct contradiction to the report of
> the CCTF in 1999. And as recently as last year, the United States
> Naval Observatory discussion of the options noted the benefits of
> using TAI.

The official time of the US for commerce and legal purposes is UTC(NIST).
The official time of the US DOD is UTC(USNO).
The official time of the Federal Republic of Germany is UTC(PTB).
etc.

The CGPM recommendation on the timescale everyone should use says UTC.

UTC(insert your national time service here) is available in real time.

TAI is the mathematical (really the political or diplomatic) entity
upon which UTC is ostensibly based, but the practical and legal
reality is the other way around.

--
Steve Allen                 <sla_at_ucolick.org>                WGS-84 (GPS)
UCO/Lick Observatory        Natural Sciences II, Room 165    Lat  +36.99858
University of California    Voice: +1 831 459 3046           Lng -122.06014
Santa Cruz, CA 95064        http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/     Hgt +250 m
Received on Sun Jan 22 2006 - 00:09:08 PST

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