Do Muslim clerics need a holiday?

According to this BBC report (hat tip frenzyj on the livejournal geology feed) various Muslim activists are calling for adoption of Mecca time instead of GMT. For the sake of this argument, we will ignore the fact that time is now measured using UTC, which is based on an atomic clock, and has replaced GMT. Instead, their argument for Mecca time is far more amusing.

One of the arguments that is brought forth at their meeting (by an anonymous geologist, no less), is that Mecca’s longitude is in perfect alignment with magnetic north.

This is not correct. Mecca actually has a magnetic declination of about 2 degrees E. But the argument is an interesting one. London, after all, is a dreary place, and if a sunnier locale with 0 magnetic declination could be found, we might all be better off adopting their lifestyle and time zone.

Well, such a place does exist. The city of Montpellier, on the French Riviera, currently has a declination of zero. So perhaps it is the relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle to which these Muslim activists secretly aspire. If we were all to adopt Montpellier time, complete with 30 hour work week and mandatory relaxing by the sea, then maybe all this bombing and shooting that troubles the globe at the moment could be avoided.