I just thought I would stop and introduce the USMA to a wider audience than it has previously enjoyed. We are not an arm of the Trilaterals, the Bilderbergs, or any other conspiratorial expression I have seen thrown at the goal over the years. We are just Americans committed to an idea we believe in, on which we have held firrm, an on which will continue to hold firm, against all opposition and in all times. If, indeed, I become the only person on this planet to support U.S. changeover to the metric system, then I shall stand alone, and I shall stand alone joyfully.
I am a full-time pharmacist, and I have been a pharmacist for 35 years. I was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and have lived in the United States all of my life. On the subject of the U.S., I am an incurable jingo. I want to see our country strong, especially when it comes to commerce and science in the long run. I remember that scene in the movie Braveheart, where Uncle Argyle tells the future Scottish hero William Wallace about a sword. He points to the sword and teaches his young nephew: "Before you can use this [points to sword], you've got to learn to use this [points to his head]." My personal interest in U.S. metrication began because of my desire to ensure that the use of two different systems of measurement in healthcare will end, so mix-ups will no longer threaten public safety. Confusion between kilograms and pounds has caused harm to patient health in America in the past. Healthcare cannot afford to adopt non-metric units, so it is up to us to go metric and prevent tragedy. If you really believe such an effort is lopsided, tell me that again if your father, son, wife,daughter, or other loved one or friend, is injured or killed by confusion over measurement units! As long as we, as a society, have to stop to convert pounds to kilograms in healthcare, there will always be that added risk. The USMA has among its members officials at the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), educators, entrepreneurs, and interested citizens. It has been providing metric education to individuals, companies, and academia for 95 years. Its Board of Directors, the members of which live all across our great Nation, meets each June in El Segundo, California, to report on their work of the preceding year and discuss projects involving education and commerce. It includes people from across the political spectrum, because, no matter which side of the aisle one sits on, everybody measures things. I believe that measurement is, and must forever be, non-partisan. I am delighted to discuss it with reds or with blues. The USMA had stood firmly on the path of American history, and, like the object of measurement history in America since 1866, we don't understand how the number 10, which is the number of fingers on our hands and the number of cents in an American dollar, is viewed as a new idea. Even the stock market likes it: a few years ago, it ended the practice of "pieces of eight" pricing, and went decimal. Paul R. Trusten Registered Pharmacist Vice President and Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. www.metric.org [email protected] +1(432)528-7724
