Some of the news reports were in error. Canada did not switch sides.
Here is a quote from one of Canada's delegates:
"We can confirm [that] Canada's position at the just concluded RA was
opposition to the elimination of the leap second. It is a position we
have consistently held at previous ITU surveys. In fact, at the RA,
Canada contributed significantly to rallying support for either
maintaining the status quo or as a minimum postponing the decision. In
the end, support and opposition to the proposed change were about even."
I have learned that an agenda item for WRC-15 is being drafted to look
at the issue again after further studies at the ITU that will explore
a variety of options to providing a universal continuous time standard.
-- Richard Langley
On 19-Jan-12, at 5:07 PM, Richard B. Langley wrote:
It seems Canada switched sides! No mention of China's stand in the
article.
-- Richard
On 19-Jan-12, at 2:51 PM, Daniel R. Tobias wrote:
On Thu, January 19, 2012 9:03 am, Tony Finch wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16625614
I knew it... it's enough of a "hot button" issue among the handful of
people who care about it that nobody wants to commit to actually
taking
any action, so it will just keep bouncing around between study
committees
indefinitely. Maybe 100 years from now they'll still be debating it.
That's what happens when you've got something that polarizes the
interested parties sharply, with one subset strongly favoring change,
another subset strongly favoring the status quo, and the vast masses
outside these groups not particularly caring one way or the other,
so that
there will never be enough massive outside pressure to force the
governing
bodies to take action instead of calling for yet another committee.
It's not like this is an issue that will lead to people marching on
the
capitol, rallying under the Washington Monument to hear a charismatic
speaker saying he has a dream of no more leap seconds (or of leap
seconds
forever), or holding tea parties or occupation encampments to press
for
one side or the other on this issue. These sorts of mass movements
can
sometimes force action when the politicians would rather just keep
batting
the hot potatoes around, but they're not going to develop here.
--
Dan
Dan's Web Tips: http://webtips.dan.info/
Dan's Mail Format Site: http://mailformat.dan.info/
Dan's Domain Name Site: http://domains.dan.info/
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| Richard B. Langley E-mail:
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| Geodetic Research Laboratory Web: http://www.unb.ca/GGE/
|
| Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Phone: +1 506
453-5142 |
| University of New Brunswick Fax: +1 506
453-4943 |
| Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B
5A3 |
| Fredericton? Where's that? See: http://
www.fredericton.ca/ |
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