Then you're cringing for the wrong reasons - nearly every deployed language gets this wrong also (numeric timezones instead of descriptive ones) - java is actually one of the first to fix this stuff up.
So does Java. But, same as in Perl, it was not included in standard library.
I'm on the opposite.
In fact, I run away every time I hear "Date or Money" and [any other platform except Java or .NET] in the same sentence.
The current situation isn't too great in terms of the standard libraries - but Jodatime is still a good alternative, and at least the situation is improving.
Oh nice - I'll have to check that out. Standard libraries... smh