The US really needs to join the rest of the World

 In this case, it's the metric system. There are a lot of really good reasons: one of which is trade. There are only three countries in the world using the archaic system of measurement used in the US.

The other countries are:

Country	2021 Population
United States	332,915,073
Myanmar	54,806,012
Liberia	5,180,203

 

You would think that if someone were really serious about "Making America Great Again" they would follow up by finally implementing a system of measurement that the founders approved of.

Immediately after independence, the United States used a variety of units of measure, including Dutch units and English units. The 1789 Constitution grants Congress the authority to determine standards of measure, though it did not immediately use this authority to impose a uniform system. The United States was one of the first nations to adopt a decimal currency, under the Coinage Act of 1792.

 In 1793, Thomas Jefferson requested artifacts from France that could be used to adopt the metric system in the United States, and Joseph Dombey was sent from France with a standard kilogram. Before reaching the United States, Dombey's ship was blown off course by a storm and captured by pirates, and he died in captivity on Montserrat.

OK, early adoption was rather abortive, but the US SHOULD have been a pioneer here (as well as in other technological advancements, such as high speed rail, but that's another post). Anyway...

Congress included new encouragement for U.S. industrial metrication in the Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. This legislation amended the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 and designated the metric system as "the Preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce". The legislation states that the federal government has a responsibility to assist industry, especially small business, as it voluntarily converts to the metric system of measurement. The legislation required most federal agencies to use the metric system in their procurement, grants, and other business-related activities by the end of 1992. While not mandating metric use in the private sector, the federal government has sought to serve as a catalyst in the metric conversion of the country's trade, industry, and commerce. Exceptions were made for the highway and construction industries. The Department of Transportation planned to require metric units by 2000, but this plan was canceled by the 1998 highway bill TEA21. The U.S. military has generally high use of the metric system, partly because of the need to work with other nations' militaries.

There are quite a few stories where differences caused by contractors to the US government using both systems of measurement to disasterous effects.

So, what's causing me to bitch like this since I avoid the "English" system of measurements used by the US? Actually, I don't use them normally.

I am trying to convert Liquid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, etcetera into metric. Metric is easy there are 1000 millilitres in a litre, 100 centilitre in a litre, and so on. On the other hand, a system of measurement which was based on the length of the monarch's arm has to be shit.

Seriously, once you get used to metric, you wonder how you ever bothered with the antiquated system of measurement. Trust me--it's much better.

 

Unicorns exist ! (At least they do in French)

Imagine my surprise when I see that the President of France talking about increasing the number of unicorns in France. Is it April First?

Nope, your French dictionary may be dated, but Antidote (https://www.antidote.info/en) came to the rescue:

économie – Jeune entreprise du domaine des nouvelles technologies qui, sans être cotée en Bourse, est estimée à plus de un milliard de dollars

That's "Young company in the field of new technologies which, without being listed on the stock exchange, is estimated to be worth more than one billion dollars" in English. Not to mention this is a really good term since some of these companies really have zero assets.

Their real assets are YOUR INFORMATION which they sell.

Maybe some of these companies actually have a product, but they sell airware for the most part.

Here's your unicorn.

Let's do Malcolm X's birthday instead of MLK!

Malcolm X, who became El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, is a very interesting person to me. He should have told the teacher who said he shouldn't be a lawyer, that he would be the best at whatever Malcolm put his mind to. 

He was.

And he made an impact in the Nation of Islam, enough so that he was probably under more FBI surveillance than MLK ever was. I watched the Netflix series on Malcolm X's assassination and I am even more convinced that his talent was wasted by that event. The FBI feared a charismatic black leader, which is a reason I think that even was allowed to happen. It was also why Fred Hampton met the same fate.

I'm not going to address the FBI and other "Law Enforcement" surveillance of either of these men, but it was extensive. But the threat they both posed as charismatic black leaders is dangerous, but the real threat was that they both were moving toward a rainbow coalition. The fact that oppressed people can be any race, creed, or colour.

Malcolm Little became El Hajj Malik El Shabazz because he made the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. That trip opened his eyes to see that Muslims can be any race. Which was a dangerous event for the Nation of Islam. 

Think if both of these men, Malcolm X and Fred Hampton, had gone on to unify people to work together on the problems of society. They were formidable leaders who would have made Berniemania look like nothing. 

Sadly, both of them were cut down way too early.

Just when you thought it was safe...

 I was going through the French press and saw a headline about "duck bill masks" ("bec de canard") and wanted to find out if the term was slang. You are probably aware that cloth masks are pretty much worthless. That's where FFP comes in, or:

FFP2 is actually classed as a respirator, rather than a mask, meaning they offer better protection. FFP stands for "Filtering Face Piece", with the number corresponding to the level of protection the piece provides, 1 being the lowest level of protection and 3 being the highest.

So, these are a little more than the fashion statement that cloth masks make. I'm not sure how effective they are in real life since the one study used the FFP3 masks, which are the most effective of this type of masks.

 Alas, I am not trained to a level where I can make strong opinions on this issue, but people who are and I respect say that this virus may need to be accepted as a fact of life.

Interesting links:

• https://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/actualite-economique/production-de-masques-ffp2-et-d-autotests-enquete-sur-un-retard-francais_2165902.html
  
• https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-face-mask-face-shield-ffp2-n95-kn95-whats-the-difference/a-52291265
  
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7248188/
  

More reasons you need to be concerned about monopolies and oligarchs

 Yet another interesting interview by Russell Brand on why you should be worried about the current situation:

Wanting strong data protection laws isn't "privilige": it's sanity.

The billionaires made money on your information. And it all gets scarier.

Aux Armes, citoyens!

 Imagine my surprise seeing this headline in Le Figaro after listening to gun nuts extol how the US is the beacon of "gun rights" and gun ownership. Here's the link, but you need to:

1. Be a subscriber to Le Figaro and
2. be able to understand French

to be able to read the article.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/face-a-l-insecurite-de-plus-en-plus-de-francais-s-arment-20220109

Yes, the French aren't "victims" to use the Gun Culture paradigm since they can get a firearm for protection. Sure, they have to undergo some form of serious background check before they can get permission to own them, but France is in 24th place for armed citizenry in the world with a ratio of 19.6 guns per 100 inhabitants. Or 12 million weapons in civilian hands in France.

Anyway, it was amusing to see an article like this in a French newspaper since the gun nuts like to claim that the US is somehow "unique" in the ability to own firearms. This article could have come from a US newspaper, which is the source of my amusement. Here are a few excerpts:

"Stop hoplophobia", chanted the activists of the Association for the Restoration of Citizen Carry of Arms (Arpac). Hoplophobia? "The irrational fear felt by some people at the mere mention of a weapon, where a normal person distrusts the one who carries it," they say. On Facebook, their page has more than 45,000 subscribers - three times as many as five years ago - who promote self-defence and the carrying of weapons for "responsible citizens". With a firearm, "you are no longer a victim, but an actor in your own safety", they insist...

Does he see himself shooting a potential burglar? I'm going to take all the necessary measures to prevent that from happening," he says. I'm going to install an armoured door and close the shutters every night. But I can imagine myself taking the gun out of the window and firing it into the air to scare the attacker. What is not possible is to stand by and do nothing...

Marie-Hélène, who lives alone in her house in the heart of a small town in the Hérault region, has the same desire to be safe. During the lockdown, "in the middle of the night, the municipal police rang my doorbell: they had seen a man loitering near my gate", reports this 60-year-old widow.

I think the "uniqueness" is less in the ability to own firearms and more in the irresponsible manner that they are owned in the United States. Or as the police advice mentioned in the article says:

Don't shoot if the man happens to be passing through your garden. You would be in more trouble than the offender.

What are you doing on Social Media? Why are you there?

 I've been wanting to do a post on this topic for a really long time since I find it amusing how most of the right wingers are paranoid about their government, but have no problem with big business-oligarch crowd.

Here's the difference: government is supposed to be under citizen scrutiny. Private entities like businesses aren't--unless the government regulates them.

Russell seems a little slow on the uptake since nothing he is talking about here is secret. In fact, this stuff is all an open secret.

So, if you don't want your activities traced, you might want to get away from social media and big tech.

As Russell points out, the Internet was created by the US Department of Defence (DARPANET).

Sorry, Al Gore and Tim Berners-Lee, you can't take credit for internet.

je suis nouvellement vacciné (Je suis ennuyé vacciné???)

Je suis récemment vacciné et cette chanson m'a traversé ma tête. Changez "Je suis un noyé assassiné" en "je suis nouvellement vacciné" (ou "Je suis ennuyé vacciné") et rendez les autres choses plus appropriées. Par exemple, "un gars qu'en voulait a mon porte-monnaie" devient "un gars qu'en voulait à ma bonne santé".

 I'm newly vaccinated and this song went through my head. Change "I'm a murdered drowning man" to "I'm newly vaccinated" (or "annoyed and vaccinated") and make the other things more appropriate. For example, "a guy who was after my wallet" becomes "a guy who wanted my good health".