Michael mentions metric speed limits etc. The UK does not use metric speed limits (etc) at all yet it's never mentioned in the "awkward three". I suggest that Liberia and Burma are mentioned alongside the USA in an effort to cast those two countries as "backward" and "low class". The UK can't be mentioned because it has an excellent economy/modern/dynamic etc. I'm not sure that this is a good tactic to use to "show up" the USA (it's possibly xenophobic, at worse) and will continue to state that it's incorrect to mention those countries. It has already been discussed that many Caribbean countries also use imperial so unless the list is extended I believe it shouldn't be used. It's better to quote a percentage - as this would reflect a figure regarding populations.
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [USMA:39680] Re: China and Japan beat U.S. back to the moonDate: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 13:28:39 +1100To: [email protected] On 2007/11/08, at 10:00 AM, Michael Payne wrote: It's misinformation to state that Burma and Liberia avoid the metric system. They don't, they are predominately metric. The only reason they are on this list of non-metric countries (CIA website) is that they don't have an 'Official Policy of Conversion'. Despite having no official policy, they have both become predominantly metric, including metric speed limits, signs with km/h and speedometers with km/h, fuel sold in liters, etc. I wish we would not give out the misinformation that they are not metric when they are. I wrote an article on this for Metric Today about 10 years ago after visiting both countries. Michael Payne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Trusten" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, 05 November 2007 16:55 Subject: [USMA:39678] China and Japan beat U.S. back to the moon Dear Mike, You might be interested in this item from the Metrication matters newsletter of March 2006 (See: http://www.metricationmatters.com/mm-newsletter-2006-03.html ) Given your comments (above) I will be much stronger on this point in future than I was in the last paragraph below. 9 History >From time to time, USA business leaders and government officials claim that >the USA is not alone as the only nation in the world that has not 'gone >metric'; they adopt various linguistic gymnastics to suggest that the US is >not alone. For example, when a software company president said, 'The metric system is used in nearly every country in the world, with the exception of the USA', we have to ask: 'What is the purpose of the word 'nearly' – 'nearly' implies more than one country – but he only mentions one nation – the USA as an exception. By inserting the word 'nearly' the speaker is trying to suggest that the US is not alone in its stance against the metric system. In 2002, Dr. Lester Crawford of the Food and Drug Administration in the USA said, 'There are only two countries in the world that are not metric: the US and Yemen'. This is an odd statement because support for the idea that the USA is not alone usually includes two – almost always two – of the following: Burma, Liberia, Libya, and Myanmar. The selection of Yemen to support the USA position is quite rare. The facts however are quite at odds with the public statements of USA business leaders and government officials. American companies that trade internationally are already metric. Examples of fully metric products from the USA include: bulldozers, buses, cameras, cars, computers, films, lenses, make-up, pharmaceuticals, television, toothpaste, tractors, trucks, and video. As you can see from this list, the agricultural machinery, automotive, computers, electronics, pharmaceutical, photographic, and optical industries are already using the metric system. The reason that most of the citizens of the USA do not realise this, is because many manufacturers do not see any sales advantage in telling the public that they are committed to using the metric system. Manufacturers seem to believe that they will only see resistance and argument from the general public if they mention the metric system publicly. A common example is the computer industry where the computer chips are made with separations between components measured in nanometres; the computer board and the case is then designed and made using millimetres; and finally the public is told the size of the screen (very approximately) in inches. By the way, travellers to Burma (also called Myanmar), Liberia, Libya, and Yemen report that metric measures are commonly used in all of these countries. Cheers, Pat Naughtin PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin helps people understand how to go about their metrication upgrade– quickly and easily – by helping them avoid mistakes that he has made himself, or that he has seen made by others during his more than 35 years of involvement with metrication matters. Contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pat specialises in the modern metric system based on the International System of Units (SI), but he is mostly concerned with the processes that people use for themselves, their groups, their businesses, their industries, and their nations as they go about their inevitable metrication process. See: http://www.metricationmatters.com/ Pat Naughtin is a highly knowledgeable metric enthusiast, who is also a writer, professional speaker, editor, and publisher. He spoke in many places in the USA in 2005 and his most recent speaking tour, in 2007, included Singapore, Paris, London, Toronto, Washington, Tennessee, Colorado, Idaho, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Recent clients have been the United Kingdom Metric Association, The Canadian Metric Association, the United States Metric Association, NIST in Washington, Google in San Francisco, and NASA in Los Angeles. _________________________________________________________________ The next generation of MSN Hotmail has arrived - Windows Live Hotmail http://www.newhotmail.co.uk
