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Originally Posted by weaver
1 - We won't be adopting the metric system this century either. Its dumb.. but its one of those nationalism things. Don't fret -- all of us engineers are taught it. My kids will know it. Moving on.
Right.. I won't get a response.
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How is it dumb? It's a universal measurement system that even a 6 year old can understand.
Do you expect people to remember a different name for every possible measurement of every possible scale, with completely unique relativity between every different unit?
The metric system lets us define any unit of measurement and that's it--all the work is done when it comes to scaling up or down with multiples or quotients.
If you can't tell me how many grains are in an ounce without looking it up, then you shouldn't be measuring ounces.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weaver
2 - UN Kyoto Protocol -- is a joke. So, lets ignore please for a moment that we DIDN'T sign it (nor would I ever suggest we do). Please name.. just one.. country that has followed the protocol and is meeting the expected cuts, etc as agreed?
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They agreed to make these cuts in the first place. How can you judge those that don't meet them? They are still spending billions of dollars to cut carbon emissions. It is difficult to stifle projected growth. If the treaty requires they reduce their emissions by 8% from what they were in 1990, and their industrial growth set in motion years before the Kyoto agreement had them on course for raising their emissions by as much as 50%, then they are still making huge leaps by reducing the rise in emissions to 20% or 30%.
It is also difficult to compete with US industries which are not subject to these limitations. This is especially considerate for Canada, which has not reduced emissions any more than the US but has ratified the protocol.
I wasn't arguing about the merits of the Kyoto Protocol anyway. Merely that by being one of the only large countries to not ratify the protocol, the US hardly puts themselves in a position of environmental leadership.