> Man, I wish I had the time to keep up with this list. It got pretty far ahead of me in just a day or two. :) > > I think it's great that there are so many people who care enough about this issue to be involved. (But not enough yet, it seems.) > > I'm wondering now *how* everyone is focusing their energy (other than venting here). I liked that letter regarding the Olympics, except for one important point: It failed to state a compelling *reason* why the Post and Courier should care whether they use metric. Any business will only change its practices if it has a business reason to do so. So if one of us wishes to write to a company, say a manufacturing firm, what business case can we make for metric conversion? Surely the reasons will be different (or presented differently) for each type of business. But we need to identify what those reasons are for each industry. > > Beverages for instance: Suppose I want to write to my favourite juice producer who sells its juice in quarts. Can anyone provide any convincing arguments I can present to them, so it doesn't just seem like I'm some whining fanatic? Why should they invest to change their manufacturing process, if they sell their juice only to Americans who are perfectly comfortable with quarts? > > Why should an American newspaper care about listing distances in km? What's in it for them? > > If we can't come up with answers to these questions, we'll be "pissing into the wind" forever. > > I'm also a bit concerned with some of the negative tone on this list. America-bashing is a sure way to guarantee that no one takes us seriously. I realise that this is only on the list, and that this attitude is probably not expressed in the letters that go out; but this is a very public list, nevertheless. If we're aware of the TABD, and ever start to challenge them, you can bet that they have the resources to be aware of us, and these sentiments can easily be used against us to make us look like a bunch of special-interest extremists. Organisations like the TABD often use search engines to find references to themselves, in order to track PR. This list may soon fall under their gaze. > > So I would urge everyone to keep it positive, focus on goals, and identify targets very specificly, rather than just speaking of "US industry" being the problem. Such a statement is as inaccurate as it is useless. "US industry" never does -- and never has done -- anything as a unit, even if it sometimes seems that way. > > As with any activism, credibility is crucial, and mainstream acceptibility is the only road to success. > > Okay, I'm done. Bye, > > -- mephistophe > > --------------------------------------------- > DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE BY EMAIL! > --------------------------------------------- > You have chosen to receive messages from "Metric America" by email. > > Reply to this message: > http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/bbsfrp?action=r&tid=metricamerica &sid=12177109&mid=1108 > > Unsubscribe from the Club mailing list: > http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/config/change_mb_list > > Return to "Metric America": > http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica > ---------------------------------------------- > > Not a member? Remove yourself from this list: > http://edit.clubs.yahoo.com/config/unsubscribe_mb_list?.userID=millitesla&.g roupID=metricamerica&.groupType=&.code=kqkKEmys7C >
