Was James Arthur Jimenez speaking English, Filipino or Spanish? If he was not speaking English, then the journalist concerned converted from Filipino (or Spanish) into English. Did the translator also convert the units of measure?
_____ From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of John M. Steele Sent: 17 January 2010 12:03 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:46423] I thought only Americans were innumerate I was surprised by this article from the Phillipines using inches first. Are they only "marginally metric?" I was also surprised by the level of innumeracy (check the conversions) http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100117-247870/25-foo t-ballot-seen-with-144-partylist-groups-in-polls [quoted snippets] Comelec spokesman James Arthur Jimenez said the ballot, as has been designed, has a "maximum" length of 26 inches or a little over two feet but a backup ballot design measuring 29 inches or nearly 2.5 feet could be used instead after the poll body's approval of 144 <http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100117-247870/25-fo ot-ballot-seen-with-144-partylist-groups-in-polls> party-list groups participating in the elections. . . . Converted to the metric system, 26 inches is about 66 centimeters or one-third of a meter; 29 inches is 77.66 cm or nearly four-fifths of a meter. [end quote]
