May I see your papers, citizen?

@maporsche,

I'd not known that, but it makes sense.

I'm afraid I think of k as kilometers, but of course that is derived from use of kilo in the first place. I suppose I have seen k used in real estate articles but I'm more used to m.

I'm in the midst of reading back on the thread, am merely interrupting.

On metric system and whatever you call u.s. system, I've used both re distance in my design work, but not so much re cooking ingredients, for example.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

I'd not known that, but it makes sense.

I'm afraid I think of k as kilometers, but of course that is derived from use of kilo in the first place. I suppose I have seen k used in real estate articles but I'm more used to m.

I'm in the midst of reading back on the thread, am merely interrupting.

On metric system and whatever you call u.s. system, I've used both re distance in my design work, but not so much re cooking ingredients, for example.

correcting myself, I'm used to seeing M for million, and seeing 600,000 written out. And, of course I used metric back in my med days.

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There is nothing wrong with the French. Excellent wine, excellent cheese and a far better, fairer health system than in many parts of the world.

Joe(Only Norway is better health system-wise, for cheese and wine, not so much,)Nation

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For the record:
I know that the metric system is more logical n more convenient,
( not including the temperature scale )
being based on ten, than is the English system.

In denouncing the conventional paradime of orthografy,
I have argued that both fonetic spelling and the metric system are Manifest Destiny,
but I have become accustomed to the English system and the metric system drives me nuts; damned annoying.

I wanna read distances in MILES, not in kilometers.

David

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

Annoying? Well, heh heh, change is always difficult for the elderly.

What is annoying, or at least more difficult to teach to children, is the English measurement you love.

Here's a meter stick. Lay it down 1000 times and you have what? A kilometer.
Here's a yardstick, lay it down 1000 times and what have you got? Beats the hell out of me, but it's NOT a mile.

To get a mile of yards you have to lay the yardstick down
(le'see, there's 5,280 feet in a mile, so,,,,wait, isn't it 5286 feet? ....No. uh, so ...divide by 3... and ..)
one thousand seven hundred and sixty times.

You can easily remember that number because 1760 was the birth year of Pope Leo XII.
==
Okay. Now let's take our temperature.
In Celsius,
water freezes at 0°, boils at 100°, normal body is 37°.
In Fahrenheit:
Water freezes at 32°, boils at 212° and normal bodies are 98.6°..

Oh yeah, much more logical to go with Fahrenheit.
========
What does all this have to do with the subject of this thread? I submit that the continued adherence to the oddly-formed English system of measurement and the out-moded Fahrenheit temperature scale by the United States is evidence of how really backward and hidebound a country it really is. Supposedly a leader for the world in technology, the USA can't even bring itself into line with the way the entire rest of the world weighs and measures, no wonder it can't find ways of dealing with illegal immigration. Here's a country which is supposedly the home of justice and freedom and it's citizens blanch at the very idea that some group of people would live and work within it's borders without learning to speak English. I saY!

We, I say this as a very proud American, are a myopic, short-sighted, self-centered bunch who believe ourselves to be the opposite.

Joe(the rest of the world is moving on)Nation

2 Replies

@Joe Nation,

Nice attempt to move back to the topic, Joe.

1 Reply

@roger,

Yes, it was slick...

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Ain't gonna work, but. . . .

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@Joe Nation,

Quote:

We, I say this as a very proud American, are a myopic, short-sighted, self-centered bunch who believe ourselves to be the opposite.

Yourself excluded I suppose.

What people on our planet do not fit this description?

When Americans wish to hold on to traditions (irrespective of whether or not they work better than what's new), it's myopic, short-sighted and self-centered.

When other peoples wish for the same thing it is at worst quaint and at best noble and courageous.

I suppose because you do not share a concern for non-assimilated members of the American society, those who do must be not only mistaken, but malfeasant.

Canada and Belgium are too classic examples of nations which not only tolerate but protect multiple "official" languages.

How much easier and efficient would it be for the French minority in Canada to adopt English, and the Flemish minority in Belgium to adopt French. How myopic, short-sighted and self-centered those French Canadians and Flemish Belgians are!

Regardless of whatever the positive aspects of State protection of French and Flemish in the respective countries such practices have, undeniably, led to practical problems and social tension --- nothing that remotely threatens to bring down either nation, but clearly, there is a down-side when all of the members of a society cannot communicate with each other in the same language.

Somehow I doubt you would be as forgiving of Americans who move to Mexico and demand that the Mexican government accomodate their inability to speak Spanish.

2 Replies

@Finn dAbuzz,

amen, my first act if i'm ever elected prime minister, english is the only official language, speak french if you want, keep your quaint customs, but if you want a government service, parlez the anglais baby

and if you want to secede from the country, au revoir, don't let the grand banks hit your ass on the way out of the country (the province stays here, you want to go, you go)

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Quote:

PHOENIX " The two proposed referendum drives challenging Arizona's new sweeping law targeting illegal immigration are being abandoned, organizers said Monday. Andrew Chavez, a professional petition circulator involved in one of the efforts, said its backers pulled the plug after concluding they might not be able to time their petition filings in such a way as to put the law on hold pending a 2012 public vote.

Jon Garrido, the chief organizer of the other drive, attributed its end to a belief that the law would have been subject to legal protections under Arizona's Constitution if approved by Arizona voters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_enforcement_referendums

Fat chance....I'll bet that the organizers found out that this law is more popular in Arizona with registered voters than they knew. Lot's of illegals don't like it, but their names can't be used to get to the magic number needed to get the referendum on the ballot.

Again we see that those whining about this law don't have the support required to change it. I predict that they will have not much success in the courts either.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

Quote:

PHOENIX " The two proposed referendum drives challenging Arizona's new sweeping law targeting illegal immigration are being abandoned, organizers said Monday. Andrew Chavez, a professional petition circulator involved in one of the efforts, said its backers pulled the plug after concluding they might not be able to time their petition filings in such a way as to put the law on hold pending a 2012 public vote.

Jon Garrido, the chief organizer of the other drive, attributed its end to a belief that the law would have been subject to legal protections under Arizona's Constitution if approved by Arizona voters.

hawkeye10 wrote:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_enforcement_referendums

Fat chance....I'll bet that the organizers found out that this law is more popular in Arizona with registered voters than they knew. Lot's of illegals don't like it, but their names can't be used to get to the magic number needed to get the referendum on the ballot.

Again we see that those whining about this law don't have the support required to change it. I predict that they will have not much success in the courts either.

Its kinda humorous: if thay succeeded in getting a referendum,
the result woud be an abrupt humiliation for their trouble and expense!
Maybe thay thought the citizens of Arizona wanna be invaded by Mexicans.

David

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

Quote:
Re: Joe Nation (Post 3986198)
Quote:
We, I say this as a very proud American, are a myopic, short-sighted, self-centered bunch who believe ourselves to be the opposite.

Yourself excluded I suppose.

What people on our planet do not fit this description?

No, I very much include myself, I also believe I am in good shape but I know that I am 20 pounds overweight. (Actually thirty)

There may be other people on the planet who have a view of themselves which does not fully comport with reality, but we, dear Finn, we Norte Americanos, Americanskis, Amerikaners are the true example and exception. Not only do we claim and believe that this nation is exceptional because of it's history and make-up and thereby duty bound to export to the world our particular set of values, our political system and (a little less enthusiastically received of late) our economic wisdom, but we also tell the world that these values, systems and wisdom are the exclusive property of these United States.

Unmatchable. Untouchable. (Unless we admit we are secretly wishing that other countries would take ahold of the hem of our garment.) We are constantly stunned and disappointed that all the nations of the world aren't stunned and awed by us. They used to be. We thought.

Now by us, what the promoters of this idea mean, is not all of us, just the parts they pretend are exceptional.

So, "We have the best healthcare system in the world".
(The world laughs)
So, "We build the finest products" (but not actually IN the USA) and
we are technologically ahead of every of( why are South Korea and Norway standing ahead of us in this line?)

We pretty much have to ignore the parts that clearly don't fit with being at the top. We claim to have, my favorite, "Family Values". One would think that that would be one of those core, exclusive to the US, values we would be promoting everyway everyday, but then the world peeks in, those bastards, and sees us fighting tooth and nail to defund public education, to make it impossible for families to thrive with only one of the parents working and allowing Corporations to have the same rights under the law as those tiny four person units comprised exclusively of a man, a woman and, unless they truly wish to stay middle class their entire lives, two children of any gender.

Yep, follow us world, watch how we build our future.
===
The really bad part about thinking we are a special breed is how it engenders the suspicion that anyone else attempting to mix in with us will somehow spoil the specialness. So the American Melting Pot does something odd, instead of combining all of the character of those in the pot, it first tries to boil off any portion of the newcomer which doesn't exactly fit with those already here. If you are not just like those cloddish, clannish good old boys down at the café, you better get working on becoming one.
As soon as you become myopic, short-sighted and self-centered while believing yourself to be the opposite, you're in.

Joe(you also have to twenty pounds or more overweight.)Nation

3 Replies

@Joe Nation,

It's not as bad as that surely Joe? I have read that Americans grow large bodies but that their brain remains stuck in playpen mode and that America, if I remember the quote exactly, is "by way of being something of a psychiatric ward" ( Thorstein Veblen).

But I never believed either. Now you're saying I made a mistake and I have to admit that some of the debates I have been in have led me to think that may very well be the case.

The silly gumps here decided to copy your pre-election party leader's TV debate nonsense and we are now in a sort of paralysis as you may be hearing about.

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@Walter Hinteler,

I guess the rest of the world needs to join the dark side.

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@Joe Nation,

I agree with you completely.

It doesn't need to be said that this is a nation of immigrants. It does need to be said that most of the immigrants come here because they want to make a better living for their families while more than a few are here because life was made impossible for them in their native lands because of adverse politics.

My son said that the Arizona laws will only make life easier for the drug cartels because most of the drugs are imported by citizens and not by immigrants.

That there is a drug problem is due to the fact that the economy has become narrow, not just here but in Mexico as well. It is also due to the fact that there is corruption at every level of law enforcement.

As my son said, the war on drugs is the same as the war on terror, an unending war that can never be won that is being waged only to fuel the economy. I looked over at him and said, "1984," as he said the same words, simultaneously.

The irony is that I just read a statement from a contributor to this forum, advising people to read that book, when he is one that I would say does not understand it.

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THIS IS WHY ARIZONA ENACTED A STRONG POLICY AGAINST THE TRESSPASSERS !!!!

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS OUR U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET.........

1. A JOB,

2. A DRIVERS LICENSE,

3. SOCIAL SECURITY CARD ,

4. WELFARE,

5. FOOD STAMPS,

6. CREDIT CARDS,

7. SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,

8. FREE EDUCATION,

9. FREE HEALTH CARE,

10. A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON,

11. BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE,

12. THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT.

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION HERE IN AMERICA

3 Replies

@Advocate,

Do us a favor, keep your shitty and ill-thought out chain emails to yourself.

But, just to engage. Do you look at that list of countries and think, Gee - we should be more like them! Not so much.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Advocate,

And stop shouting.

Joe(jeezus)Nation

0 Replies

@Advocate,

Advocate wrote:

THIS IS WHY ARIZONA ENACTED A STRONG POLICY AGAINST THE TRESSPASSERS !!!!

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS OUR U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET.........

1. A JOB,

2. A DRIVERS LICENSE,

3. SOCIAL SECURITY CARD ,

4. WELFARE,

5. FOOD STAMPS,

6. CREDIT CARDS,

7. SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,

8. FREE EDUCATION,

9. FREE HEALTH CARE,

10. A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON,

11. BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE,

12. THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT.

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION HERE IN AMERICA

WoW!!! Most cogently advocated, Advocate!!! Thank u.

David

1 Reply

May I see your papers, citizen?

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