Spiffy new Mail on Sunday campaign led by, of all people, Hitchnens: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -Time.html

Thoroughly dishonest article, describing CET as Berlin time and full of "who won the war anyway?" rubbish. Interestingly the majority of the comments seem to be against him.

"I don't want to go to work in the dark for the convenience of businessmen in Berlin"

Which may be the case for people like Mr Hitchens, but when you work from 7 or 8am like I do, I go to work in the dark even on GMT....for the convenience of businessmen in London, presumably.

And I haven't had any bad effects from doing so.

Hitchens goes to work? He starts at his desk at 9am and stays there till 5pm? Who knew.

I love the idea he's trying to foster that Hitler went to war to force the British to change the clocks. If you put it that way, he won as soon as the UK went on to double summer time. Why the hell would the Germans care what we do with our clocks? If anything it's to their advantage for us to leave things as they are, as they get to snaffle the business that we lose.

There's always a chance he might set himself on fire to prove a point.

Hang on, isn't CET basically the same as BST, which the Mail was trying to keep us on not three weeks ago?

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"Even when you're a super-computer with an IQ of 2000 it's brown trousers time."

Reclaiming "methinks" for the nation

Latest blog post - 2011 - a review (updated 07/10)

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"Fanaticism is the only form of willpower to which the weak minded and irresolute can rise."

Well. This rallying call is rather unhinged even by his standards. The naked jingoism to one side, I suppose we could also point out that it is not Mitteleuropaische rather Mitteleuropäische with the umlaut making a whole heap of difference to the pronunciation and there aren't really any businessmen in Berlin to kow-tow to anyway as there are no multinationals or international institutions of any note in the city. ie; get yer facts right.

Moreover, I see this echoing the debate over the adoption of the Euro - those whom I discussed it with at the time were trying to articulate some kind of "Symbolic Nationalism". They didn't have a strongly held point of view apart from a dread that it was all part of a slippery slope towards enforced garlic eating and mandatory clutch bags for the gentlemen.

Hitchens has clearly reached for that particular dog-whistle on this occasion but the comments would appear to suggest that this was a massive miscalculation with the story hastily being hauled off the main site and shunted in to the blog sections.

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Brigate di Transizione

There's a site poll up now, currently running 60/40 in favour of "Continental time" (at least they've dropped "Berlin"). Get over there, guys, and vote.

Hitchens has missed a trick. If he really wanted to ensure no-one would vote for this he should have blacked up, dressed in balloon pants, and released a song under the monicker of "MC Hitcher" called "U can't touch this (Her Majesty's GMT)" with the hook "Stop: Hitler time!".

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"..The Daily Mail - not so much a newspaper as an idiot's guidebook issued in bite-size daily installments" Charlie Brooker

It's a great way to collect the postal addresses of the loony, to enable them to send mails shots later.

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"Fanaticism is the only form of willpower to which the weak minded and irresolute can rise."

You mean 'John Smith, BIRMINGHAM' isn't enough? And what is the postcode of the Morecombe Compound, EUSSR?

The Mail will be confused by this. Aren't two of the strongest opponents farmers (good) and Scots (bad)?

This issue has never split on party lines. About 15 years ago there was a good debate on it on On The Record.

Hitchens is getting a real kicking in the comments, get in there,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... l#comments

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"Fanaticism is the only form of willpower to which the weak minded and irresolute can rise."