At the risk of being flamed(!) I must say that I think trying to handle date time (or any) textual formatting for display purposes within the database level is a bit bonkers!

Presentation should be handled at the application level, in a language suited to doing so (.net, java, whatever) that supports localisation and cultural settings, it can then be done transparently and easily - without the need for tricks and tips in the sql.

Just my thoughts - no offense intended.