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I
thought about the comment, “even
in metric countries, the people resist and still use our natural
units”
I would not take this an endorsement for the imperial system itself, but more for what is natural for the individual, and their resistance to change. Many older Australians will generally give their measurements naturally in inches, feet and miles, as they will do just the same for many other major changes imposed upon them. 'The exception to this is the Maiden (natural) name, people will quickly adopt a woman's new married sir name, as it would be offensive to not do so'.
For
example, these same people will still call
Telstra (Australia’s largest telephone
company) by its old (natural) name Telecom, despite this name changing over 10 years ago. Roads that changed their name many years
ago are still referred by their original (natural) name. My Aunt will still call a tyre
manufacturing company she worked for in the 1960’s by its original (natural)
name, despite that it has since changed twice.
My father who is in his 60’s will still ask where the ‘wireless’ is,
which is an old fashioned term for a radio I would never use. My Mum will call CD ROMs for the
Computer ‘tapes’. These terms are
natural terms that the individuals feel comfortable using. They are
not necessary correct, or the best they could use.
I too feel comfortable to call my
mother Mum, and not Mom, which is natural for me. I can understand that the term Mom is probably
more appropriate, as it appears to be
derived from Mother.
I have noticed that the older generation in Australia, who of course were educated under the imperial system, have at least whole heartily adopted °C. They are content to use this in every day language. The temperature is symbolically given in °F here when it reaches 100. (Which in Adelaide today it is.)
When
I read the comment, “FFU
is ingrained in our soil”,
so too I thought are firearms in the US.
They are as much a part of the US as these Pioneers and that Wild West were… However, one thing I have noticed about
guns in the US, apart from Americans
obsession with them, is that most references of firearms are in
millimetres. This is one example
where America’s firearms and SI units
have complemented each other. It is
just a shame that it has to be
guns. I would be interested to know
more why firearms are represented in SI, and for how long? The thought of guns came to me while reading today a film review in our local paper ‘The Advertiser’ (www.theadvertiser.com.au) The
review below is titled 'In The Line
Of Fire' about the film 'Bowling for Columbine', rated M. I also found a reference for that
article at the Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2002/12/18/1040174292920.htm The
review went as follows; Determined
filmmaking gadfly Michael Moore poses a question at the beginning of his
unrelenting, pertinent, frightening, ironic, but absorbing documentary. “Isn’t
it a little dangerous handing out guns in a bank?” he asks a bank clerk. The
Michigan bank is a licensed firearm and rewards new customers with a free
gun. It has 500 in its vault. This sets up Moor’s investigation, which
takes him across the US as he exposes, questions, corners, and juxtaposes to try
to explain why there are more than 11,000 gun deaths in the US every
year. In
comparison, the UK, with a population of 55 million, has 68 deaths. Canada with 31 million has 165, while
Australia, with only 19 million population, has a worrying 65. Moore is a life-long member of the
National Riflemen’s Association and award-winning marksman when a teenager in
his hometown of Columbine. Columbine
was the site of the 1999 school massacre where 12 students and a teacher were
shot dead. In the film’s most
powerful scenes, video surveillance tapes show the massacre, backed by frantic
phone calls to police and radio stations. Columbine
is also the head quarters of the world’s biggest arms manufacturer,
Lockheed. Moore wonders if the
children of the 5000 locals who work there may think it is acceptable to kill
people. Since
the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, gun and ammunition sales have
soared. Theories put forward that
the reason is the base of fear on which the US has evolved, shown in a brilliant
animated cartoon journey from pilgrims though slavery, civil war and foreign
country invasions to today. Moore is
not bothered with objectivity as he links events and interviews in his
deceptively easygoing style which makes his quarries easy
pickings. He
particularly targets actor Charton Heston, front man for the NRA, who made a
pro-gun speech in Columbine the day after the massacre. Review written by Stan
James. -----Original
Message----- John Kilopascal
wrote in USMA 24247: I find it odd that all
of a sudden we are being inundated with books that have a measurement
theme. It strikes me odd that both books written and reviewed this
year have an underlying anti-metric theme. This books seems to come at us
from a different angle. Instead of concentrating on non-existent errors in
the early calculation of the metre, this book tends to glorify the measurement
of the American continent in links, chains, yards, acres and
miles. One should be asking
why are these books appearing? This one seems to be saying: "America, you
can't go metric. FFU is ingrained in our
soil. You can't measure your personal land in metres, it was
already done so by the blood and sweat of American pioneers in chains and
miles. You would be destroying so much if you abandon our earth bound and
honoured units for those foreign, artificial and abstract units of the metric
system. And look folks, even in metric countries, the people
resist and still use our natural units" The 2-nd last
paragraph of the review attacks Europe because it is the inventor of metric and
Canada because they defied the FFU-ists and went metric, only to stop
half-way creating confusion. And if the US ever thinks of going metric,
this is where we will be. I feel these books are
designed to give comfort to the US for not metricating and sticking with
FFU. It is like they are saying: "No matter how much the world is against
you, you are right in sticking with FFU, and you will win in the end. But,
you must continue to be on guard and fight, because the Hitler's and Stalin's
and Hussein's of the metric world want to destroy you by forcing you to adopt
their phoney measurements." When will someone
write a book praising SI? That is what we need. John Certainly Ken
Alder's book, "The Measure of All Things", seems to support John. Its
subtitle is "The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the
World". Alder does not mention that Mechain's "error" did not in any way
affect the definition of the metre. See my USMA 23873.
Joseph
B. Reid |
Title: Re: [USMA:24247] Re: How the West Was Measured, One Ch
- [USMA:24247] Re: How the West Was Measured, One Chain at a ... kilopascal
- [USMA:24253] Re: How the West Was Measured, One Chain ... Joseph B. Reid
- Brenton
