If only the media started to support metrication. The only newspaper that supports it in the way it covers international news is the quality paper The Irish Times. The Irish Independent claimed a few years ago that thermometers in Athens had surpassed the 100 degree mark, while the only thermometers in that city that rise that high are used to measure oven temperatures and not those which measure temperatures in the human environment. This newspaper indulged in this nonsense while the Irish are now thoroughly familiar with the Celsius scale. And until recently the Tour de France of course was made to be an event where heat wave temperatures were measured in degrees Fahrenheit, distances in miles and the altitude of mountains in feet. Two years ago the Evening Herald printed a lot of senseless anti-metric trash, in which the attitude of the butchers was glorified.
Although I had this experience on a plane, I have also experienced two car crashes in the past, where fortunately I was not wounded. It won't stop me from flying in the future. This return flight Charleroi-Dublin cost about 200 euro, the taxi from the B&B in Dublin to the airport included, while travelling by train from The Netherlands to Ireland costs about 500 euro! Even scheduled Aer Lingus return flights from Amsterdam to Dublin are at least 100 euro cheaper than the train. Han ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Joy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, 2002-08-01 1:46 Subject: [USMA:21479] Re: Back from Ireland > Things may be slow for awhile in Ireland but I think they're ahead of England. Haven't they got their road signs up in km? UK have yet to do this. I did notice however that all the white marker posts along UK motorways are spaced every 50m apart. > The major reason a metric conversion can be successful is the attitude of the media. Here in Australia we're very lucky to have a media with a pro-metric attitude and so it makes it easier to stick with one system instead of having to live with two systems (as in the UK). All news from the US gets converted to metric as is obvious when we hear things like "the car was travelling more than 160km/h", a translation from "100mph" from the US version. > > Letters sent to movie producers and TV channels will do a great deal to speed up metrication in your respective country - THEY are the ones who metricate a country, not the government. > > Good luck with your flying and getting some good travel insurance. You could always take the Eurostar under the Channel tunnel! > > Best regards > Mike Joy > Perth Australia >
