Martin, we get the same problems here with politicians bringing up emotional, gut-reaction issues. This most happens preceding an election season. Points of contention range from flag burning to "progressives" attacking Christmas traditions. When the smoke clears we find there was really nothing there to start with.
Metrication is not something the EU is "forcing" Britain to do. Likewise for the death penalty. Most of the first world abolished it, with or without the EU. Politicians are just whipping up emotions and using the EU as a scapegoat. The decision to convert to SI began long before admission to the EU. Commerce realized that one harmonised standard would be far more profitable. SI was the standard of science and engineering. They understood the small short-term costs and hassles and voluntarily accepted it in order to reap the continual long-term benefits. Britain is metric in every aspect of regulation. The non-metric today is the exception and exists only in vernacular. Citizens speak in "yards" at a soccer match but the reality is a field, gridded in metres, in a metric country. On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:31:25 -0000, "Martin Vlietstra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > UK metric debate in the House of LordsA good deal of the problem in the > UK is that we are an island, that going to another country takes more > effort than for most of our EU neighbours and that certain politicians > are whipping up public opinion for the sake of cheap publicity. > > The truth about representation is: > > The EU is run by the EU Commission. The US equivalent is the President & > Executive. The UK equivalent is the Prime Minister and Cabinet. > The EU Commission is composed of 25 members, each one nominated by a > member state (usually an ex-minister). The democracy element is probably > on a par with the US and the UK - the US President is elected indirectly > by the people and the US Executive is nominated by the President, while > in the UK the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that wins the > election and the Cabinet are nominated by the Prime Minister from elected > Members of Parliament. (He usually only nominates MP's from his own > party). > > The "Upper House" of the EU is the Council of Ministers. It is roughly > equivalent to the Senate in the US and the House of Lords in the UK. The > Council of Ministers is composed of the ministers of state of the various > member states - ie all the Finance ministers will discuss finance, all > the transport ministers will discuss transport and so on. It is very > closely modelled on the German Upper House. It is probably less > democratic than the US Senate, but certainly much more democratic than > the House of Lords. > > The "Lower House" of the EU is the EU Parliament. Its equivalent is > Congress in the US and the House of Commons in the UK. As in both the US > and the UK, its members are directly elected. > > Finally, all EU directives need to have the consent of all three bodies. > > It is just a pity that so few people understand how the EU works. I > believe that there is a direct correlation about the number of > half-truths that are put about in newspapers concerning the EU and the > amount of clothing that the pin-up girls in the same newspapers wear - > (the greater the number of half-truths, the less the pin-up girls wear). > ----- Original Message ----- > From: James Jason Wentworth > To: U.S. Metric Association > Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 6:12 PM > Subject: [USMA:37744] Re: UK metric debate in the House of Lords > > > Hello Pat, > > All of your points are true and well-taken. But these anti-metric > reactions in the UK House of Lords are the visible manifestation of > something that goes far beyond metrication. Many people throughout the > EU, particularly in Western European nations, are becoming increasingly > dissatisfied with it. This dissatisfaction stems from the fact that > their lives are now being regulated by bureaucrats in Brussels whom > they cannot directly vote for or against. Also, on issues such as > capital punishment, the EU government is out of step with national > majorities and pluralities of its people (this was revealed by polling > at the time of Saddam Hussein's execution). > > Not only are many British people angry that non-British politicians are > telling them what units to use, but I know Germans who are angry that > so many Italians have moved into their country due to the new > "borderless" EU regulations and Dutch farmers who are angry because > they had to destroy many of their not-proven-to-be-ill cattle (during > the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic) due to EU agricultural > regulations. > > As frustrated as I sometimes become with my senators, congressman (we > only have one for all of Alaska), and president, I am secure in the > knowledge that I can directly vote for or against them. Because they > know that too, they *do* listen to me and to my fellow citizens. The > citizens of the EU member nations have no such direct control over the > EU government, and as a consequence the EU ministers can merrily craft > their regulations "in a vacuum," as I've heard British friends of mine > complain. > > It's ironic that the British are now getting a taste of something not > terribly dissimilar to that which prompted our revolution in 1776. > Instead of taxation without representation, it's regulation without > representation. The psychological effect of this pressure from a > distant leadership that does not understand the needs of its people may > have the same results; Just as we changed to a decimal currency system > and even reformed English spelling to express our defiance toward > Britain, if the EU forces the metric issue the British may dig in their > heels and cling to Imperial measures (and perhaps even expand their > use) to express their defiance toward the EU. > > -- Jason > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Pat Naughtin > To: U.S. Metric Association > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 2:23 AM > Subject: [USMA:37742] UK metric debate in the House of Lords > > > Dear All, > > You might be interested in this debate entitled 'EU: Non-metric > Terms' held in the UK House of Lords on Monday 2006-11-27. > > > http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2006-11-27a.541.0&s=speaker%3A13076 > > The debate seems to me to be liberally larded with misinformation and > thoughtless nationalist posturing with the main arguments being based > on some vague idea of tradition and a strong personal distaste for > foreign ideas. > > My first reaction was to comment on all of the mistruths and errors > contained within the thoughts of the various participants, but then I > realised that they all had one thing in common — they seemed to have > no idea how much their non-decision is costing their nation. > > All parties to this debate seem to be quite unaware of the costs of > non-metrication in the UK. > > Here are some questions that I think might usefully be asked in the > House of Lords in their next metric debate: > > ◊ How many UK businesses have lost European orders or contracts > because they could not do the job in metric? > > ◊ How many UK businesses have not even been approached for > quotations > or estimates because European businesses automatically assume that > businesses in the UK cannot do metric work? > > ◊ How much time and paper is wasted each day in UK offices as people > try to layout page designs in inches and fractions of inches when > they are using metric paper sizes? My estimate is about 10 % of > office paper is wasted every day because of measurement issues. See > the article, 'Page borders — Inches or millimetres' at > http://www.metricationmatters.com/articles > > ◊ How many UK businesses have had to pay a premium for metric parts > because they only bought enough for a specific job? > > ◊ How many have made costly mistakes in converting a metric job to > old pre-metric measures? > > ◊ How many people have had to be terminated because they could not > work in metric units? How much does it cost to find and employ their > replacements? > > ◊ How much are the people of the UK prepared to pay to be different > to everywhere else in Europe? > > ◊ How much does it cost to have someone buying one fastener when > they > need the other and having to make a second trip to the store to > rectify the problem? > > ◊ How much does it cost to retrain UK school leavers in old measures > when they have been taught the metric system at school every year > since 1965? > > ◊ How many UK citizens cannot find employment in other countries > because it is assumed that they won't be able to use metric units? > > ◊ How much extra does it cost UK industry for duplicating products > in > both metric and old pre-metric measures? > > ◊ How much extra does it cost UK industry for keeping both the > metric > and the old pre-metric inventories separate? > > ◊ How much extra does it cost UK industry to have stores that have > to > carry both metric and old pre-metric measures? > > ◊ How much extra production costs are involved with making products > like fasteners in both metric and old pre-metric measures? > > ◊ How much has not-going metric really cost the UK? My estimate is > about 10 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or about £114 billion per > year ($223 billion USD). See: the article 'costs of non-metrication' > at http://www.metricationmatters.com/articles for details of this > estimate in a USA context. > > ◊ How much is it going to cost the UK for not being metric between > now and when the politicians finally accept that the complete > adoption of the metric system in the UK is not only the most sensible > decision that the House of Lords could support but also that it is > inevitable anyway? > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > PO Box 305, Belmont, 3216 > Geelong, Australia > Phone 61 3 5241 2008 > > Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, > 'Metrication matters'. > You can subscribe at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter > > Pat is also recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication > Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. He is > also editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' section of the > Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual – for > writers, > editors and printers'. He is a Member of the National Speakers > Association of Australia and the International Federation for > Professional Speakers. See: http://www.metricationmatters.com > > This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee > and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally > privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright > and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of > the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email > or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, > please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender > by return email. > > > -- Bernard Rachtmann [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Access all of your messages and folders wherever you are
