PC redux 15

[lionelhill]

Off-topic, but in defence of non-metric units, dividing by 3, 2, 4, etc. is not really a problem. The old units like old UK money were difficult because they mixed several bases (20, 12, and 4, as well as 10). Time, of course, still mixes bases 60, 24, 7, and 10, as well as base 365/365-and-a-bit. Metric is unfortunate in using base 10, which is really a bad choice for everything, even counting fingers. Base 12 is divisible by far more useful things, base 18 wouldn't have been too bad, and base 16 would have made IT easier. But change is out of the question now, it would be like inventing esperanto.

 

[Murgle]

Spirit

Here in the UK, I think it was in Birmingham an old lady had a collection of those funny little pigs doing funny things like wearing hats and doing funny stuff displayed in here front window.

Someone complained and she was told by the police that if she did not remove them from public display then she would face prosecution for racism!?!?!?!

...but they were wearing swastikas, white pointed hats and burning a cross though........


sha76
Fancy a 0.5682 litre? No, better not, I'm driving, make mine a 0.2841..........not got the same ring to it really...

Ahhhhh, I see you have a machine that goes Bing!

 

[flapeyre]

If you give them 25.4 mm, they'll take 1.61 km.


"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for here you have been, and there you will always long to return."

--Leonardo da Vinci

 

[GwydionM]

Metric measures are a legacy of the French revolution. At that time, many measures were in use in every country, sometimes with the same name. (I think Sweden has 'miles' that are seven times as long as an English mile.)

How many li to the firkin? None, really, since the 'li' is a unit of distance. But thing how confusing it would be if there were not some common standard.

The units in use by the 18th century British Empire were retained by the UNited States, with just a few small changes. The rest of the world has gone metric.

 

[RoyVidar]

Still off topic...
I'm not sure about Sweeden and the "7 mile mile", but it exist in Norway.

But since Scandinavia has been metric for a while, it doesn't seem to complicated to compare 1 mile ("mil&quot = 10 km. This unit of measurement is seldom used in written communications, but freqently spoken.

Roy-Vidar

 

[lionelhill]

So a millimil is 10m?

 

[BakeMan]

Just to get back to the PC topic...

rosieb, are you suggesting that the Union Jack and the Flag of the Confederate States of America are one in the same?

I will have to agree, they are similar, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would confuse the two.

jsteph, I'm not sure if this an uplifting story or not but...

I live in Richmond, Virginia (the former capital of the Confederacy) and my son plays little league football. I have coached his team for three years now and even played when I was his age. Recently our league was petitioned to change the name of our football team. Our local team is call the "Rebels" and has been for 30 years now. Apparently some individuals found this offensive and demanded a change. A vote was called for throughout our community and several other names were proposed. After the vote, it was decided by an overwhelming majority to keep the name the same. The petition was dropped and nothing more has come of it.

Like I said, I don't know if this is an uplifting story or not, but those of us who live in my community are sure proud of the fact that we have kept the name of our team.

BAKEMAN

 

[rosieb]

BakeMan
I'm confused. I wasn't likening the Union Jack to Flag of the Confederate States of America. The thought hadn't occured to me. I was trying to draw a parallel between the Union Jack and the Swastika. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

The Union Jack is used extensively by the National Front, British National Party and other assorted racist groups. It has often been displayed in a manner intended to intimidate minority groups.

I was just pointing out that just because some groups had tried to turn it into a symbol of racism, that did not automatically make it morally objectionable.

(And I think that the reason it was temporarily removed from British Airways plane tails, was a marketing effort to be seen to be "International" rather than "British".)

Rosie

 

[jsteph]

Bakeman,
I do find that uplifting, and I'm a 'Nothuna'. Someone got oversensitive and thought that he (or she) would save the community from what he decreed unilaterally was an offense to all. It's a point of pride to the community and a few oversensitive types shouldn't be able to take that away.
--jsteph

 

[BakeMan]

Sorry about that rosieb, I was unaware of the those facts. I am just so used to people referring to those of us that live in my part of the world as racists that I jumped to that conclusion. In fact most of us are proud of the diversity in our community and are glad to see those of differing heritage move into our area. Admittedly we still have a few "Bad Apples" hanging around that seem to give us all a bad name, but I guess it's like that everywhere.

BAKEMAN

 

[rosieb]

BakeMan
No problem, call it the Atlantic Divide, it never occured to me it could cause offense.

Have a great Christmas & New Year

Rosie