Dear Victor,
What about 'The Axis of Dishonesty'?
As you know the historical attempts to provide better measurement
methods have consistently been about removing dishonesty from the
marketplace.
You might think of:
* measurement as a running theme in the Bible such as Ezekiel 45:
10-11 where they say: Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah,
and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that
the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the
tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.
* In 1215 the power to define weights and measures was given to the
government in the Magna Carta. Since then governments have preserved
this right so that they can reduce the number of measurement frauds
and disputes brought about by outright lying and cheating, or more
subtly by linguistic obfuscation such as 'pints' of beer in the UK or
'barrels' of oil internationally.
* The Constitution of the USA (Article 1, Section 8) provides, in
part, that the Congress:
... shall have power ... To coin money, regulate the value thereof,
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; ...
* This power is put into practice by the USA Office of Weights and
Measures who state:
The primary objective of the Office of Weights and Measures is to
achieve equity between buyers and sellers in the marketplace; to
prevent deception and fraud.
* When Bishop John Wilkins invented the concept of the 'Universal
measure' that later became the decimal metric system, I have no doubt
that his motivation was largely dependent on his reading of the Bible
references to dishonesty in measurement and his desire to provide a
system of measurement that could provide honesty for all people in all
of their dealings.
To my mind the modern metric system provides the basis for honesty in
measurement. Further, I believe that people who support the use of old
measuring words are fundamentally supporters of dishonesty in
measurement.
Hence my suggestion of 'The Axis of Dishonesty'.
Sadly this group often does this innocently because they do not have
even a basic knowledge of metrology and the need for measurement
standards to prevent cheating, deception, lying, and fraud.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, that you can obtain
from http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
to subscribe.
On 2010/05/25, at 04:31 , Victor Jockin wrote:
Rather than than the "Axis of We-won't" to describe non-metric hold
out countries, how about the Axis of Medieval?
From: Paul Trusten
Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2010 12:09 PM
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:47417] USMA repsonse to Re: Comment from The Times of
India
The U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc., is a non-profit, national
U.S. organization founded in 1916, and dedicated to U.S. changeover
to the SI metric system as the Nation's primary, everyday system of
measurement. To that end, we support exclusive use of the metric
system for all U.S, measurements, and are opposed to any plan that
relies upon back-and-forth conversion. I am one of the officers of
this organization, whose Web site (www.metric.org) has been listed
as a useful link by the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures, and which has strong ties with the U.S. National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST), the keeper of U.S. measurement
standards.
I disagree with this author's atttempt to belittle the U.S. Metric
Study Act of 1968. In a nation as large and as complex as the United
States, attempting to change over to a new standard of measurement
is worth a special examination. But I certainly agree with the
writer that, once the study was completed and the sound
recommendations were made to metricate America in 10 years, that
this should have been the starting gun for the process of changing
the U.S. to metric by 1985. That the bill was so watered down was
very disappointing to American metrication supporters, but has not
deterred us from pursuing this long-overdue national goal. We want
our country, as well as our President, to "stand tall" in its
infrastructure.
Paul Trusten, R.Ph., Public Relations Director, USMA
Midland TX US
----- Original Message -----
From: Pat Naughtin
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: 22 May, 2010 19:05
Subject: [USMA:47410] Comment from The Times of India
Dear All,
Oh how our minds we do pervert
When first we practice to convert
This item is from 'The Times of India':
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Metric-Fail-Measure-for-measure-US-comes-up-short/articleshow/5962106.cms
