Pat, with respect, please believe me that the 'pint' you refer to below would not be acceptable or in fact legal in a UK pub. I'm not sure why this keeps popping up from time to time. If you knew what a British beer drinker was like then your scenario would see riots happening in the pubs of the UK each day ;-)
CC: [email protected] From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:48119] When is a nation metric? Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 13:03:31 +1000 On 2010/07/09, at 02:36 , [email protected] wrote: In other words, how fully metric a country is, from completely metric with no old units ever used by anyone, to essentially old units only with only a bit of metric used. The indication would be useful if it sensed what the average person does and says in conversation, as it is assumed that scientists and others behind the scenes use metric. In that regard the USA would be quite to one side. Carleton Dear Carleton and All, It seems to me that all attempts at development of measuring methods have always contained a large drive toward honesty. Examples include all of the Biblical references to measurement, the Magna Carta, John Wilkins 'univeral measure' that became the metric system, Thomas Jefferson's decimal measures report to Congress in 1790, the French 'decimal metric system' of 1790 (later than Jefferson), and the CGPM International System of Units (SI) in 1960. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/MetricationTimeline.pdf and search for any of the above words. And, at the same time as these moves toward honesty were taking place, there were also resistance to any better measuring methods by those who, for whatever reasons, favored or support dishonesty. Examples include 'pints' of beer in the UK served in portions of 500 millilitres with a head of froth to fit into a nominal pint glass if filled to the brim, oil purportedly measured in 'barrels' that never existed to make it difficult to compare crude oil prices to be compared with pump prices, shoe sizes, bra sizes, clothing sizes of all kinds, etc. etc. etc. etc. Overall there are people who support honesty who also support the metric system. And there are those who support dishonesty! I suppose that a nation is truly metric when all transactions are transparently honest. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY 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. _________________________________________________________________ http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/197222280/direct/01/ Do you have a story that started on Hotmail? Tell us now
