Nice asset but what we are trying to realize is to kill ALL old units and not to make them accomplish to SI
It really bothers me that still many people in Germany use pound! We want SI Units ONLY! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Markus Kuhn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2002 7:37 PM Subject: [USMA:20705] Political support for metric system > After a five years absence, I have just joined this list again, curious > what progress metrication has made since then. > > Do you think that we can expect from the current Bush administration or > the current congress any progress with regard to US metrication? > > How do you see US metrication develop over the next few years? What are > the next significant breakthroughs/milestones to be expected and when do > you think will they happen? > > I'm observing US metrication with great interest, but to be honest, I > haven't noticed much to observe over the past few years. I wonder what > caused it to stall. > > The sort of breakthroughs that I am waiting for are things like: > > - Measures to help every American to know their own size and weight > in cm and kg (for example by using these units on drivers licences > and similar every-day documents), as psychologically important > everyday references. > > - The elimination of every support for old-style units from US > legislation, including: > > - The introduction of a law that says that only metric quantities > are legally defined in contracts and that no court can be asked > to interpret what exactly a "foot" or "pound" is, if the contract > in question was closed after say 2004. This implies of course > the removal of any non-metric legal labeling requirements. > > - The exact meaning of the old units could be undefined by > making it officially/legally equally valid to use alternative > definitions for the colloquial terms, in particular: > > 1 pound = 1/2 kg > 1 pint = 0.5 L > 1 inch = 1/40 m > > and from that follows > > 1 hundredweight = 100 pounds = 50 kg > 1 ton = 2000 pounds = 1000 kg > 1 quart = 2 pints = 1 L > 1 gallon = 4 quarts = 4 L > 1 foot = 12 inches = = 300 mm > 1 fluid ounce = 1/128 gallons = 1/32 L > > etc. > > - NIST etc. stopping to calibrate equipment that has non-SI scales. > > - A nationwide changeover to replace road signs. > > - FAA air traffic rules changed such that controllers quote > altitude in meters. > > - As a temporary measure a law that controls the marketing of measuring > with non-metric units. > > - US sports associations updating their game rules to use > metric measures. > > - Introduction of A4 as the official government office paper format > and continuously increasing production of new forms and letterheads > in A4. > > Markus > > -- > Markus G. Kuhn, Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK > Email: mkuhn at acm.org, WWW: <http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/> >
