[USMA:27382] Re: The Worst Jobs In Science

[Mighty Chimp]

It seems to me that this person is one of the 5 % that is part of the organised metric resistance, and is very, very upset that metric has cut deep into the fabric of the English speaking world.  One would not have such a mocking tone or give a hoot about metrication, if metrication was not so noticeable in our world.   Thirty or more years ago, metric did not exist in the English speaking world.  There were no metric labels, no metric tools, no mention of metric anywhere.  Now, it is everywhere.  Devices such as cars, computers, heavy machinery, etc. once designed and built in FFU are now designed and built in metric.   The use of the term imperial indicates that this person is British and a possible member of the BWMA.  Notice also the deliberate spelling of litre/liter as litter with 2 ells.  As if to associate the metric unit of volume with cat residue.    This person is of the false assumption that all 281 million Americans are anti-metric.  I have no idea as to how many Americans are pro-, con, or neutral.    The BWMA looks to the US as the only nation able to save FFU.  They look to the US and praise the US as the only nations able to save imperial from the grave.  They hate the EU and the euro because both are seen as the force behind the forced metrication of the English speaking world.    So, I see such a report as a sign that the efforts to metricate are wining over the forces to stay imperial.  But, this does not mean we should let down our guard and consider the battle won.  We need to fight hard or else we may see metrication taking a few steps back.   Euric  ----- Original Message ----- From: Brenton Conway To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Friday, 2003-10-31 20:40 Subject: [USMA:27377] The Worst Jobs In Science In the October 2003 issue of Popular Science, on page 69 there is an article is written about The Worst, Most Torturous, Icky, Painful, Stinky, Dangerous, and just plain horrible jobs in science.   In their opinion, the twelve worst jobs are listed as follows;   1.                  Flatus Odour Judge. 2.                  Dysentery Stool-Sample Analyser. 3.                  Barnyard Masturbator. 4.                  Brazil Mosquito Researcher. 5.                  Hot-Zone Superintendent. 6.                  Isolation Chamber Tester. 7.                  Fistula Feeder. 8.                  Prison Rape Researcher. 9.                  Carcass Cleanser. 10.              Postdoc. 11.              Metric System Advocate. 12.              Corpse-Flower Grower.   11. METRIC SYSTEM ADVOCATE The Metric Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology has a bold, if Napoleonic, motto: "Toward a Metric America." That is, a fanciful future in which we'll buy decagrams of hamburger and litters of gas. Problem is, the Metric Program employs just two evangelists�hail, ye lone voices in the wilderness!�to convert 281 million recalcitrant American imperial-unit holdouts. Launched with much hope by the Federal Metric Conversion Act of 1975, the Metric Program 28 years later meekly soldiers on, advising federal bureaucracies and trying to pitch the system to�well, to anyone who will listen. The dynamic decimal duo, who declined interview requests, did say that they really work only part-time on metric salesmanship. So it would seem: A spokesman for the program, when queried, didn't know his own height in metres     Reference: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,12543,484153-1,00.html