Thread 11 Starmer: Will that Phone Call Be To Harris or to Trump? (the decidedly superior looking cats thread)

[BIossomtoes]

New thread.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5195566-thread-10-starmer-first-female-chancellor-delivers-the-budget?page=40&reply=139578573

"Of course it then helps to know a mile is 1760 yards which gives you 220 yards"

I don't know what this means.

"An element of that is on ourselves being laissez-faire about explaining the regulations to the Great British Public."

I'm not sure we have the power to do that! Not when MSM is happy to keep people in the dark. I did my best to present facts but still had some Brexit voting friends.

We know that there's a correlation between education and Brexit voting, just as there was between education and Harris voters amongst women last week. I'm not sure we have a lot of power to change the level of people's education.

1760 divided by 8 = 220, which is the length of a furlong.

Divide by 10 and it gives you the length of a cricket wicket.

Also very helpful to know!

I sometimes think that the likes of JRM would also have wanted us to revert to pre-decimalisation. But that's just my two pennyworth

Ok so presumably @SerendipityJane meant yards and furlongs not yards and yards. That makes sense.

I'm sure you're right about JRM @BIWI and who wouldn't love to go back to using groats eh?

The consultation died a death, didn't it

Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales - GOV.UK

The Government acknowledges the concerns many respondents expressed about possible changes to the current system used for units of measurement. Analysis of consultation responses shows that while a small minority would welcome greater choice and flexibility in the units used for domestic trade, the majority of respondents expressed limited or no appetite for increased use of imperial measures.

Ultimately, it was decided that the arguments against making any changes, including arguments concerning consumer confusion, increased costs for businesses, and barriers to international trade, taken together with the overwhelming response against the increased use of imperial measures, outweighed the arguments in favour.

Nonetheless, the Government did give particular consideration to the argument that increased use of imperial units could provide greater inclusivity for those more familiar with them than metric.

However, the Government felt that, on balance, this concern could be adequately addressed through improved guidance to raise awareness of current freedoms to display imperial measures, rather than requiring legislative change

I means I can work in imperial.

I think you meant to write furlongs not yards the second time?

I suspect lots of us in here can use imperial since many of us are well over 50 😆

It was the total radio silence on the matter of reversing decimalisation that underscored what a crock the idea was. A lot of the Brexity types would lose a lot of money of they were required to go back to Lsd. (Which wouldn't bother me in the slightest).

<sniffy face>
I meant to write what I meant to write. And it makes sense.

Having stated that a furlong is an eight of a mile, I said

Of course it then helps to know a mile is 1760 yards which gives you 220 yards.

The two sentences make sense when taken together. Or so I thought.

</sniffy face>

That said, there's always scope to improve my style. 😀

It's all alien to me

I'm did not know about yards and furlongs. And I'm a Milliennial (just).

Decimalisation is here to stay and I look forward to the moment we adopt a 10-day week, as the ancient Egyptians did. The modern calender is a mess.

As long as we still only have five working days - I'm in!

If you want decimal time, revolutionary France is your go to.

What's the big deal about furlongs, miles, yards or any other way of measuring ?They're just numbers for Gods sake. The main plus for a metric system is that it can be directly related to the science of things. Also a litre of water weighs a kilo and occupies 1,000 cm³ which is handy.

True, you could just as easily say a pint of water weighs .... oh, hang on, are we American (in which case it's a pound) or British. In which case it's a pound and a quarter. Not helped by the fact that American schoolkid are taught the bollocks "A pints a pound the world around". Which speaks volumes about their grasp of geography and self awareness in a way that isn't very favourable.

And so it starts...

Interesting.

Trying to enforce monopolies is a risky business. Just ask China whose attempts to monopolise rare-earth metals spectacularly backfired. Not only did we not see "no more iPhones" but the raw materials got cheaper.

That said, I suspect so many politicians here are on the take from Musk in one way or another they would accept the threat.

Glasses and concert tickets are for little fish.

8 x 220 = 1760 . I got you @SerendipityJane

😀

Personally I am still slightly baffled that a totally useless piece of knowledge like that - which I have never consciously committed to memory - jumped out within milliseconds. Especially when it can take me an hour to find my car keys.

25 years ago, I worked for 3 years in metrology - never once encountered anything but metric despite selling worldwide.

I get that 220x8 is 1760 but I don't get how 220 yards is 1760 yards!

1760 yards is a mile.

Is my writing really that bad or obtuse ?

Europe needs to plan a future without the US or become vassal states. Let the USA turn inwards but remain friendly but firm on our own expectations.
I don't think this will happen though. I think the EU leaders will crawl through broken glass to remain in Trumps good books, office politics on steroids with an out of control narcissist in charge. Someone will need to say no, or we are all fucked.

I know. But how does 1760 yards equal 220 yards? I must be missing something!

"Speaking of which - slight digression - enjoyed Taskmaster on Thursday. When the word "furlong" was mentioned, I found myself saying "eighth of a mile" before I realised it. God alone knows how that got lodged into my tiny brain, let alone how it was triggered so immediately.
Of course it then helps to know a mile is 1760 yards which gives you 220 yards."

So the word furlong was mentioned - which is an 1/8 th of a mile, a mile is 1760 yards and so a furlong is 220 yards.

Which is going to be handy for pub quizzes

I understood but I had maths skillz in a former life. Plus, I'm over 50!

An eighth of 1760 yards is 220 yards.