Pat, Not only did Günter Verheugen condemn the UK to another 100 years of confused measurements, his actions may have also condemned the UK to become the poorest nation in Europe. The UK is in the EU but the UK (more so England then the other countries) has been a thorn in the EU backside since the beginning. What better way to punish the UK economy then to confuse its measurements.
When the UK press has headlines about Verheugen saving imperial, what message do you think that sends to the rest of the metric world? Would you feel comfortable about buying British products if you thought the population was anti-metric? Wouldn't you feel uncomfortable about the quality of such products? How could a people so opposed to the metric system produce high quality goods in that system? Verheugen knows that appearing as an angel of light and as a Savior of English measurements he has helped sow the seeds of the destruction of the UK economy so that in the end the UK itself will be destroyed and the UK thorn will be removed. I believe that once the UK is brought to its knees, then the EU can step in and fully take over the UK. The metric system will be fully implemented and the pound will be replaced by the euro. You won't have to wait 100 years, only about 2 to 3. These articles you may find of interest as they highlight from British and American sources the sad state of affairs of the UK economy. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5927645.ece http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/18/uk-recession-imf http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123750366642089683.html http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aaUUnPddm.Rk&refer=uk Jerry ________________________________ From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 1:31:33 AM Subject: [USMA:44033] Re: Diversity On 2009/03/16, at 2:35 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: Diversity of units of measurement (e.g. many choices by vendors for units of volume or capacity) clearly facilitates confusion in trade and commerce, and deceit of consumers in the market place. … Gene. Dear Gene, The battle against diversity of units is a long one. It goes back at least the earliest books of the Bible. When I heard that a single bureaucrat, Guenter Verheugen, had successfully condemned the UK to at least another hundred years of dual measurements with their associated confusion and cost, I wrote this (unpublished) article: Devers weights and Devers measures Pat Naughtin 'Game, set, and match' trumpeted the Conservative MEPs as soon as the first ball, of the first set, was served. Hearing that a single German bureaucrat, Guenter Verheugen, had condemned the UK to at least another hundred years of dual measurements with their associated confusion and cost, the UK Conservative MEPs strangely expressed delight. How odd! When Bishop John Wilkins invented the 'universal measure' that became the modern metric system — in London — in 1668, he was trying to protect English shoppers from unscrupulous and dishonest traders. Then, as now, some people were prepared to use the measuring confusion caused by multiple measures to gain commercial advantages by cheating. Bishop Wilkins was an extremely practical man who knew about the problems of dual measures by directly observing the dishonesty of commercial traders. He probably based some of his sermons on Biblical texts that railed against the dangers of dual measures that the English High Street traders knew how to exploit by using quotes such as: Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. Diverse weights and diverse measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. (Deuteronomy 25:13-14) Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights.' (Micah 6:11) Awareness of the possibilities for cheating was not new, even in 1668. Early books of the Christian Bible treat measurement almost as a running theme. See: Leviticus 19:35-36, Isaiah 5:10, Ezekiel 45, and Amos 8:5. Anti-metric campaigners in the UK, who call themselves 'metric martyrs', have decided to run a campaign to take measures in the UK back to old, unchecked, scales and bowls to sell fruit and vegetables. To my knowledge there has never been a standard bowl and I have no doubt that the traders intend to choose the size of their own bowl. I also doubt that they would simply fill any bowl that a customer brought to their market stall. I don't think that Richard Ashworth, Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP), really means it when he says: 'Consumers should be able to buy in the measurement of their choice'. The use of old unapproved scales and a bowl effectively shifts control of measurement definitions from the government to individual traders with the legal effect of taking measurement law to some time before Magna Carta when anyone could decide the size(s) of the containers they use to buy and sell. The anti-metric campaigners have chosen a trader named Janet Devers to be their latest metric martyr. Presumably she will choose her own size of bowl and with an illegal set of scales, her own standard for weight; we could think of these as Devers weights and Devers measures. In fact, I can't get this line out of my head whenever I think of her name: Devers weights and Devers measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.(Paraphrased from Proverbs: 20) Mr Giles Chichester, UK Conservative MEP proudly proclaimed the continuation of multiple measures in the UK when he said: 'It was ultimately the European Commission that listened to Conservative pressure to keep pounds and ounces indefinitely … The Government may be eager to scrap the pound as our currency, but at least we can say we have saved it indefinitely – as a measurement at any rate.' The oddly progressively named, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, whose department is responsible for national weights and measures, is reported to have said: 'People in Britain like their pint and their mile. They should be able to use the measures they are most familiar with and now they can be sure that they will continue to do so. We made strong arguments for the UK’s right to carry on using pints and miles and maintaining dual metric and imperial labelling'. Bishop John Wilkins would roll over in his grave, in the St Lawrence Jewry church in central London, if he knew of this opinion from someone who is supposed to be a leader in Innovation, Universities and Skills as John Wilkins was indeed a leader in developing Innovation, Universities and Skills when he was the only person ever to be a Master of a College at both Oxford and Cambridge, a writer of science fiction, an internationally recognised 'scientist' in the 17th century, and the principle founder of the Royal Society. The chief executive of Britain’s oldest brewer, Jonathan Neame, said he was delighted the British pint had been saved. 'It was crazy that Europe should think it could interfere with such a British icon', he said. Mr Neame's remarks were illustrated with a photo of 500 millilitres of beer and 70 millilitres of froth in a 570 millilitre glass illustrating that whenever anyone asks for: 'A pint of beer, please?' in the UK, they normally receive almost exactly 500 millilitres of beer. A pint of British beer has been an illusion maintained by the brewers — who work inside their breweries exclusively in metric measures — for a long time. In 1980, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) released a report comparing the industrial use of metric units (only) to the use of multiple measures. They found that the metric only companies could expect to reduce their costs by about 9 % of their overall turnover, and to increase their net profits by about 14 % when compared to the users of multiple measures. European Union Industry Commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, with a single stroke from a German bureaucratic pen, did what two world wars were not able to do, beat the British into the sort of submission where industrial costs to the people of the UK have been increased relative to all other European nations by about 9 %. Guenter Verheugen is quoted as saying: 'this is good news for the people in the UK and Ireland who prefer to use pints and miles as current practices will remain in place', and then he probably went home that night well satisfied with his day's work. Reference: http://www.metricmartyrs.co.uk/ or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe.
