2001-03-29
Yes Han,
Follow this advice. You will never change this guy's mind; just let him be
miserable as he will have to deal with metric on an increasing basis. And,
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, a million times NEVER admit to knowing FFU. NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, a million times NEVER use FFU, even in an FFU country. When
you do, you send the imperialist a signal that you and the world knows and
prefers FFU and thus they don't have to know or learn metric. You are doing
harm to the cause. And you are not helping them to learn SI.
Actions speak louder than words. You may say you hate FFU, but by admitting
to knowing it and acknowledging that you use it in FFU countries is really
saying the opposite. I never use FFU and when pressed, I just hem and haw
and make faces. Eventually the person asking for FFU gives up and doesn't
ask again.
Set an example and use SI always!!!!!!!
John
Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrt�mlich glaubt
frei zu sein.
There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they
are free!
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nat Hager III" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, 2001-03-29 10:18
Subject: [USMA:11926] RE: anti-metric person
> Don't worry about someone like that. That's the 5% raving fringe, who as
> I've said before have a deeper agenda to settle. You'll never win with
them.
>
> Re-route around them, like a good commander in the field, and focus on the
> winnable battles. (UK loose goods, US supermarket labeling, highway
> construction, UPLR, etc). There your facing the 90% who really don't
care,
> but have the votes (i.e. buying power).
>
> Nat
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Han Maenen
> Sent: Thursday, 29 March, 2001 4:07
> To: U.S. Metric Association
> Subject: [USMA:11921] anti-metric person
>
>
> An exchange with an anti-metric American, followed by my answer.
> It began thus. He asked why I oppose Imperial and this was my first
answer.
>
> Han
>
> Bill,
>
> Thank you for your question. The main reason: it has invaded and corrupted
> metric countries. If it had stayed out, I would have no reason to be so
> bitterly opposed to it; it would not concern me; I would be able to use
> metric in peace.
> Up to this day, Britain and the USA have been trying to impose the English
> language and Imperial/US units on the entire world. They have succeeded
with
> the language, with the measuring units they succeeded in some areas. I
swore
> that I would do whatever I could to stop Imperial and US customary
> encroachments, while accepting the position of the English language.
>
> Personally, and you will surely disagree, I regard Imperial as a leftover
> from the Middle Ages. And I do not want countries to revert to such a
state.
> I am fluent in Imperial and US units, but my mother system is metric. In
> fact, this familiarity with Anglo-Saxon units has vaccinated me against
them
> and made me appreciate metric even more.
>
> Here are some examples of Imperial and US customary impostions,
> encroachments in Europe and experieces with it:
>
> 1. My brother had an British Mini car in the seventies, early eighties.
The
> manual was in Dutch, but the measuring units were Imperial with metric in
> brackets. What was that good for? Did this manufacturer really think that
> mainland Europeans would swoon with Imperial, once they were exposed to
it?
>
> 2. In the fifties some British car manufacturer attempted to export cars
to
> France with Imperial instruments on the dashboard. The French rejected
these
> cars.
>
> 3. There was a time when we used the metric system in aircraft navigation.
I
> saw pre-WWII airplanes with metric instrumentation in an aircraft museum
> near Schiphol airport. Fuel in litres, temperatures in degrees Celsius,
> speeds in km/h and altitudes in metres. Now we have to fly in feet and
> nautical miles in our own airspace, just to please the USA and the UK.
>
> 4. Marketeers from the computer and electronics industry have succeeded in
> making mainland Europeans parrot things they know nothing about, like '3.5
> inch disks', '19 inch screens'. In fact, the real standard for disks is 90
> mm, but to suit the Americans it was called 3.5 inch and sold that way all
> over the world.
>
> 5. My father was at commercial school before the war. There he was
subjected
> to the torture of making up invoices in ton.cwt.qr.lb/L.s.d. He hated
> Imperial because of that all his life.
>
> 6. I was at school, sixth form, in 1973/74. My teacher of English once
used
> Imperial to express a distance in our own country (10 miles between two
> Dutch towns). I talked her out of this. This was possible because she was
> (and is) my friend; she was and is a kind, lovely lady. She never again
used
> Imperial in such cases. In English lessons (EFL and ESL) Imperial and US
> units should only be used in proper British and Americans contexts. Eiffel
> Tower 984 ft high? 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Madrid? 25 inches of snow
> in the Alps? No way! Never!
>
> 7. I had a holiday job in the early eighties. There I translated technical
> manuals from English to Dutch. Wherever possible I deleted Imperial units
in
> the translations. Then I got instructions from an American manufacturer of
> drills to translate. They were all in in hard US units. The people who
> worked there preferred metric, no mistake, but if necessary they could use
> inches. I thought of metricating the stuff, but I had to realize that it
was
> very measurement sensitive and any conversion to metric would yield nasty
> broken values. Only because of this, I translated the instructions to
Dutch,
> while **retaining the inch measurements**. I swore revenge for this, to
> fight back even harder, and now you see my posts on the internet.
>
> 8. Two years ago, I was in the Eurolines coach from London to Amsterdam.
> We were approaching the Dutch city of Breda, but were still in Belgium. We
> passed a sign saying, 'Breda 40'. Some British in the coach thought that
> this meant 'Breda 40 miles'!!! It was, is, and will remain 'Breda 40 km'.
>
> 9. When I am in the UK or Ireland, that is every summer, I do not object
to
> using Imperial at all. Then I call a truce.
>
> 10. On the other hand, if someone from the UK or the USA wants information
> from me involving measurements and this person and I are in my own or in
any
> other metric country I will not use Imperial or US units.
>
>
> In the end, I expect all presence of Imperial in metric countries to
wither
> away. It could come in here because of the British Empire in the past and
> later because of the American Age.
>
> In the mean time, to help speed the day when this comes about, I will
resist
> Imperial and US units as fiercely as the BWMA and the UKIP fight metric.
>
> Yours,
>
> Han Maenen
> The Netherlands
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill Roland" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 11:12 PM
> Subject: Re: Imperial versus metric
>
>
> > Han:
> Thank you for your candid and detailed response to my question. I must
> inform you sir, that as hard as you will fight to rid the Earth of
Imperial
> Units, I will match you in the fight to push Metric from the face of the
> Earth. The fact of the matter is this: metric forces are in disorganized
> retreat all over America, and finally in Canada as well. In Britain, they
> have met stiff resistance that threatens to end the metrication process
> there. Although (the American in me speaks here) I would prefer that the
> entire Earth use Imperial, I realize this is unlikely, and I have no
> objection to keeping metric where it already exists, but I am not in favor
> of it being used in areas where imperial is the traditional unit. Metric,
> contrary to great myth, is not the "vastly superior" system it claims to
be.
> The B2 "Stealth" Bomber, the entire Boeing Fleet, and even the Space
> Shuttles are all done in Imperial. How can this be, given that its
nothing
> but a "Middle Ages" system? The fact is, that America is technologically
> number 1, and if you don't believe that, just consult our nuclear arsenal,
> which, is oddly enough, imperially measured as well. Good day to you.
>
> Bill Roland
> "There's no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't
> mind who gets the credit." President Ronald Reagan
>
>
> Bill,
>
> This is my last message to you.
>
> Your units are on a life supporting system. Have you never heard about the
> Mendenhall Order of 1893? Have you never heard of the 1959 agreement
between
> English speaking nations? Your units are all defined in terms of the
metric
> standards. An inch is defined as 25.4 mm exactly. The yard and the pound
are
> defined in the same way. This involvement of metric standards is the only
> reason why your 'superior' units can be used for high tech applications.
> Your units are nothing but a second hand metric system. You evidently do
not
> know that the USA is a signatory of the Metric Convention (1875) and
> as a result she is a member of the International Bureau of Weights and
> Measures! The least thing the USA could do is stop bothering other nations
> with her second hand metric units.
>
> Just go to http://www.nist.com
> and visit their Weights and Measures section.
>
> I know that metric forces in the USA are not in disorganized retreat at
all
> and they are not in Canada and Britain either.
>
> In many areas, hidden from the public, US industry uses metric indeed.
>
> The rest of the world will never trade in metric for second hand metric.
> Having adopted English as the world language is more than enough.
>
> Goodbye,
>
> Han
>
>
>
