Dear John,
Thanks for these thoughts.
However, I don't see that all these conversions help with the thought
that:
I suppose that a nation is truly metric when all transactions are
transparently honest.
To rewrite a short poem:
Oh how our world we do pervert,
when first we practice to convert.
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.
On 2010/07/09, at 21:36 , John M. Steele wrote:
I certainly don't wish to defend barrels and gallons of petroleum
products from metrication, but I would like to defend them from
charges of dishonesty, or say, perhaps the dishonesty stems from
government.
I don't invest in commodities, but I occasionally look at the data
in the WSJ. This data is a month old as I clipped it out, then
never used it in a response. Certainly the US commodity markets use
quirky units. They set the contract size as a specific multiple of
some unit, then price in that unit. For crude, the contract is 1000
barrels, and the price is per barrel. For refined product, the
contract is 42000 gallons (can anyone see where that number comes
from?) and the price per gallon. At the "contract" level, a trader
can directly compare.
July light sweet crude was (in June) $75.48/bbl or $75 480 per
contract. NY reformulated gasoline was $2.0705/gallon or $86 961
per contract. Sure, there is a markup, but they have to refine it,
and gasoline is the highest value product, heavy fuel oil is worth
much less. These more or less correspond to wholesale prices. At
retail, there is another markup and government taxes. We are paying
around $2.799/gallon (0.74/L), and a good chunk of that difference
is taxes. I know you pay a good bit more in Australia and ALL of
that difference is taxes.
Obviously the data is easier to compare in metric:
Crude: $0.475/L, Gasoline, wholesale, $0.547/L, Gasoline, US retail,
taxed, $0.739/L, Australia, retail, taxed, ???
(remember to include exchange rate). So, which organization is most
likely to want to "hide the data."
I certainly favor metrication, but I don't agree that everyone who
doesn't favors dishonesty. The charge gets their hackles up, and I
don't think it can be defended. There are cases where it can, like
market stall traders with uncalibrated, uncertified scales in the
UK. The US would be better rid of its quirky units, but the
standards are well established and enforced. Traders are honest or
caught. I think the case for metrication can be better made without
the rhetoric.
From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]>
To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
Cc: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, July 8, 2010 11:03:31 PM
Subject: [USMA:48119] When is a nation metric?
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,
seehttp://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/ to subscribe.
