Something along the same lines where a metric height is prominent. >From the LA Times on travelling in the 3 Gorges damn area of China....
After lunch, the ship docks at Fengdu, or what remains of it. Across the river we see the tall buildings of a teeming city carved out of wild land in just four years. The new Fengdu. What remains on this bank is below the eventual high-water line of 175 meters (578 feet) above sea level. The line is marked by one of hundreds of red signs dotting the Three Gorges region that say, simply, "175."
We step off the boat and into a city of rubble, poverty and, oddly, much laughter. Fengdu is one of 13 cities and 1,392 towns and villages being razed, every last piece of wood and iron snapped up for reuse before it slides beneath the water, along with 10,000 years of Chinese history. Above the old city stands a temple related to Fengdu's history as the "City of Ghosts," a story of superstition, well-preserved for tourists. The cruise line has arranged for a guide and an excursion to the mountain, which is above "175."
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chimpsarecute
Sent: Saturday, 2004 March 20 10:33
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:29246] Big BenIs Big Ben's clock face really an exact 100 metres above the ground?Protests mark Iraq war anniversary
2004-03-20 15:30
Rallies took place in Tokyo, Seoul and Australia and more marches were expected in Europe and the Americas later in the day. A big turnout is expected in Madrid, still shaken from the bomb attacks many blaimed on Spain's role in the Iraq war.
Incoming Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has pledged to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq, calling the war a "disaster" and a "fiasco".
In London, two anti-war protesters climbed the landmark Big Ben clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, unfurling a banner reading "Time for Truth" after they reached the clockface 328 feet (100 metres) above the city.
"We want to send a clear message to (Prime Minister) Tony Blair that we and the British people are fed up with the half-truths and evasions on Iraq," said Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace which organised the protest.
Organisers hoped as many as 100,000 people would march in London under the banner "No More War, No More Lies".
But in Australia, the numbers of protesters was generally small, falling well short of the 200,000 or so people who turned out in Sydney alone for an anti-war protest a year ago.
Some 3,000 chanting "end the occupation, troops out" marched through Sydney, carrying a caged effigy of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch supporter of the war.
Filmmaker John Pilger and actress Judy Davis addressed the rally. In Melbourne the father of Australian David Hicks, being held as a terror suspect in a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, called for justice for his son.
"David, if he has done anything wrong, should have been charged or released two years ago," Terry Hicks told the rally.
Australia, a close ally of the United States, sent 2,000 troops to Iraq and also dispatched special forces troops to Afghanistan. Around 850 of its troops remain in the Gulf.
In Tokyo, several thousand carrying signs saying "U.S. Go Home" and "World Peace Now," braved chill rain to march to Hibiya Park in downtown Tokyo.
Japan, a staunch U.S. ally, already has 250 ground troops in southern Iraq on a humanitarian mission that could eventually involve up to 1,000 military personnel in Iraq and the region.
Some participants wore masks painted to look like skulls, while others chanted "Get the Japanese Self-Defence Forces out of Iraq!" to a rhythm of drums and gongs.
Yasuko Nagasawa, 41, said she feared the presence of Japan's Self-Defence Forces (SDF) in Iraq could make her country a target. "If the SDF stays in Iraq, something like 9/11 will happen in Japan. The troops must come home," she said.
The Japanese government has repeatedly said Iraqi reconstruction is essential for peace in the Middle East and has vowed to continue its efforts there despite threats purported to be from al Qaeda naming it as a possible target.
In Seoul, about 1,500 mostly young college students staged a peaceful anti-war demonstration ahead of a bigger rally to protest over the impeachment of the South Korean president.Источник: Reuters, March 20
