The [harebrained] proposal of Boris Johnson to return to so-called imperial measurements or units illustrates [beyond his usual flair for spinning out of yet-another-scandal] an all-too-common innumeracy of politicians (and possibly a lingering anti-French sentiment as metric units were introduced by the French Revolution), preferring to cater to their Brexit voters rather than realising the drawbacks and costs of a parallel system of measurements, as illustrated by the 1999 Orbiter crash. Does he plan to exit the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures as well?! Or does he expect an improvement in numeracy with the public using different bases (other than 10) at
ounce once?!
Archive for Brexit
BoJo’s return to no-future
Posted in Books, Kids with tags 20 May 1875, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Bureau international des poids et mesures, EU, European Union, French Revolution, imperial measures, innumeracy, Mars Climate Orbiter, metric units, NASA, UK politics on June 13, 2022 by xi'ansunset on the horizon…
Posted in pictures, Travel, University life with tags Adrian Smith, better together, Brexit, ERC, EU, European Research Council, Horizon Europe, Royal Society, UK, UK politics on June 6, 2022 by xi'an“The window for association is closing fast, and we need to ensure that political issues do not get in the way of a sensible solution. We have always been very clear that association is the preferred outcome for protecting decades of collaborative research, and the benefits this has brought to people’s lives across the continent and beyond.” Adrian Smith
As reported in the Guardian of today a terrible impact of BoJo’s Vote Leave Brexit the UK Government failing to implement the Northern Ireland protocol is that this threatens ERC funding for UK scientists, as the associate membership of Horizon Europe was part of the Brexit negociations, whose “deal” has been delayed because of this. About a hundred new ERC grant recipients who are currently located in the UK have to either relocate to (eager) EU universities or to give up this most prestigious funding…
Misera Carta Privationis
Posted in Kids, Travel with tags Brexit, Britain, England, Human Rights, King John, Latin, Magna Carta, migrations, nationality, refugees, Statistics without Borders on November 25, 2021 by xi'anRead in The Guardian of 18 November that the UK Government was pushing for a new bill on nationality and borders that would
- open the possibility for said Government of stripping British citizens of their nationality without noticing them (and hence depriving them from appealing the decision)
- barring anyone arriving in the UK by an illegal route from claiming refugee status
- criminalising anyone trying save an illegal immigrant life
- giving UK Border Force staff immunity from prosecution if their operations result in death
which are failing basic human right principles in the country that established the Magna Carta as a basis for a lawful government… (From a cynic perspective, the 1253 charter was only giving right to a very small fraction of the English population, while serfdom lasted until 1574.) And another illustration of how Brexit is more easily used to cut rights than to establish new ones.