>The BWMA wants parity between units - there's no issue if people want to >choose metres, or feet. The issue is with coercion. BWMA has supported >a pro-metric business before.
Sorry, but this is simply not true. If the BWMA were really in favor of choice, they would be encouraging dual pricing in shops (giving customers the choice of which they use) and equally condemn metric-only and imperial-only pricing. In reality, they actively encouraged the latter, and at the same time mounted campaigns to see that 'choice of units' did not extend to local authorities putting up signs telling pedestrians how far it was to a park in meters. I notice that you don't approve of using a mixture of imperial and metric for some things like speed signs (where I fully agree with you). Perhaps choice is not for areas still currently under imperial rule ? It sounds much more reasonable to be supporting choice, than to be hankering after the imposition of out-dated and clumsy units, which is why they emphasise it. The reality is that a system of weights and measures is simply a tool - a tool to allow us to compare the physical attributes of different objects. Unfortunately, some people seem to have elevated it to some form of culture. If you introduce several such systems together, you destroy the main usefulness of the tool: a single reference to compare the attribute you are interested in. It makes far more sense to standardize on the most widely used, the most consistent, and easy to learn tool. The metric system wins that on all counts. There are so many issues relating to the EU that deserve a healthy scepticism. For example, the current proposed EU constitution's guarantee of free speech is so laden with exceptions and qualifications that it is virtually useless to stop stupid and dangerous laws in member states. For example, the UK is considering introducing a law making it an offense to deride another person's religion. Many human rights activists fear that it would be used to quash criticism of Islamic regimes. Germany already has a law whereby even stating in public that you don't believe the Nazi holocaust took place could land you in jail. Neither of these laws would last a minute in an American court. If people put more energy into real EU defects like this, we might have got something close to the enviable 1st Amendment of the US. Instead, we see people who should be forming a healthy opposition to EU Federalists wasting time fighting a Canute-like battle against a system of measurement designed to make calculations far simpler, and international trade more transparent, thus causing the average citizen to dismiss any sceptical views on EU affairs as the rantings of anti-EU luddite maniacs. ><<"Irish Government admits no consultation held on metric signs" screams >the headline.>> > >How did it "scream" it, exaclty? In bold font. This was how they announced the most important step in metrication in this country in recent years. It was worthy of The Sun at its best. Never mind that it was completely untruthful. The committee that produced the recommendation had members representing both the car manufacturers and the motoring public (through the AA). But they weren't interesting in informing people of the truth, merely to reinforce this mythical idea that metric reform never has public support, and is some form of Massive Conspiracy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" Ireland
