I am SO tired of trying to find a decent alarm clock.  

There are no stupid questions. Stupid declarations on the otherhand...
tilanus wrote:
> Why is it a stupid question; I wrote
> "help me to understand".
You wrote "help me to understand", concerning the 12+12 hour clock vs what you perceived as the obviously superior European 24 hour clock. However "numbers higher than 12" were apparently too large for stupid Americans to count to.
The "help me understand" that you refer to was not in reference to you remarks out the metric system to which you stated:
> I don't even want to start on the non existing
> reasons for not using the metric system or
> driving on the left side
Which, I suppose, wasn't really a stupid question because it wasn't a question at all. It was just a stupid declaration that no good explanation for the US not having adopted the metric system existed, and with cavalier dismissal informed us you 'didn't even want to get started' on any "non existing reasons".
I've said plenty of stupid crap in my life. Rather than fight it out. Just refer some great alarm clocks and all will be forgiven.

Pong Clock
Tilanus, have you seen the "Pong Clock" that was featured last November on MocoLoco? It keeps time by showing the fictitious score of two phantom players- the puck on the left scores once every minute while the puck on the right only scores once every hour.
You'll love it. It is only available in a 24 hour version-
http://mocoloco.com/archives/001766.php

Pong Clock... Eh, hem...
Rather, if I knew my left from my right- the puck on the RIGHT scores once every minute while the puck on the LEFT only scores once every hour.
http://mocoloco.com/archives/001766.php

MUJI Alarm Clock
There is also the MUJI Alarm Clock available at the MoMA store. The site points out that it "Features 12/24 hour time format," so we all can read it.
http://momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=...

Flip Clock
I really like the clocks that flip the number from the center really fast. My mother had one when I was very young and I was be mesmerized by the blink-of-an-eye mechanics of it. Seems in recent years I recall some cool new variations on it, but I cannot remember where. I'm going to do a little searching here and see if I can't find something.
Ah, I see they are referred to as a "Flip Clock"...
Versions with exposed mechanics seem to be popular right now.

Flip Clock by Michael Daniel
.
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/silly-goose_1898_28865950

Flip Clock by Kikkerland
.
http://www.alphabetsnyc.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/online-store/scst...

Flip Clock - GIANT WALL FLIP CLOCK
.
http://www.littleclockshop.com/giant_wall_flip_clock.html

Flip Clock - Auto Flip Clock
I also like this simple classic one:

David Forbes
David Forbes also makes some ingenious clocks. I have to say, I'd love to own one of these. Too bad he says he's sold out of all of them. They're brilliant.

David Forbes Scope Clock (Vector Drawn)
.
http://www.cathodecorner.com/sc100.html

David Forbes Nixie Clock (Vacuum Tubes)
.
http://www.cathodecorner.com/nc600.html

Alarms?
I've also come to the realization that I've strayed off topic. Except the MUJI, I don't think any of these recent posts are alarm clocks.

The Pin Clock
I've read that this one is loud, and not suitable for "quite" situations... I suppose that means sleep. Maybe not your best solution, but worth sharing.
http://www.gadgetizer.com/2005/10/26/the-pin-clock/

Rosendahl Alarm Clock
.
http://www.designstore.com/roalcl.html