[DRAFT #1b] Repeal GA#88 "WA Numeration and Units Act"

[Tinhampton]

Character count: 2,388
Word count: 370

.
ICly by Alexander Smith, Tinhamptonian Delegate-Ambassador to the World Assembly.

Repeal "WA Numeration and Units Act"
A resolution to repeal previously passed legislation.

Category: Repeal

Target: GA#88

Proposed by: Tinhampton

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General Assembly Resolution #88 “WA Numeration and Units Act” (Category: Education and Creativity; Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Noting that Article 3 of GA#88 allows member states to "prohibit their private enterprises or any non-plenipotentiary citizens of their nation from using any units of measurement" (emphasis added),

Concerned that, as a result of said Article:

1. inhabitants of certain member states run the risk of arrest simply for providing directions to confused tourists in yards and miles rather than metres and kilometres,
2. levels of food poisoning may increase significantly in those member states where packs of food which require preparation before eating cannot contain any accurate reflection of how long those foodstuffs ought to be prepared for,
3. significant barriers could be posed to efforts by civil society to reduce obesity levels by urging the reduction of sugar, fat and calories in certain foodstuffs, which may prove problematic for sellers of food who cannot provide any accurate indication of how much of any of these their produce contains, and
4. the utility of any units of measurement that the International Measurement Institute (IMI) may devise can be easily overridden by member states by their simply prohibiting everybody other than those representing them on diplomatic business from using IMI units beyond the context of any publications that the IMI may issue,

Further recognising that said Article could significantly impede international co-operation between businesses which cannot succeed without the use of particular units, especially when member states have a ridiculous amount of leeway to outright forbid their use of those units; for instance, a project between businesses in two member states to construct an array of satellites using only metric units - which could enhance access to television and the internet among residents of remote islands, thereby enabling them to learn more about the world around them and to swiftly contact family members and friends living abroad - could be hampered (if not cancelled) simply because one of those member states forbids the use of metric units by "private enterprises,"

Observing that common sense is not, in fact, particularly common, and

Expressing its desire for the passage of international legislation on truth in food labelling and scientific freedom after the repeal of the target resolution...

The General Assembly hereby repeals GA#88 "WA Numeration and Units Act."

[Island Girl Herby]

Great idea. There are plenty among us who want to go back to using the human head as a measure of volume.

[Honeydewistania]

Great idea. There are plenty among us who want to go back to using the human head as a measure of volume.

Herby is SUS?!?????!?!??!?

[Island Girl Herby]

Great idea. There are plenty among us who want to go back to using the human head as a measure of volume.

Herby is SUS?!?????!?!??!?

Ehhhhhhh what?

[Tinhampton]

Herby is SUS?!?????!?!??!?

Ehhhhhhh what?

Among Us is an extremely popular computer game which rose in prominence last year. It is a game involving astronauts in which some astronauts are proclaimed to be "sus"(picious?), although I have never actually played it and am therefore not too sure about this point. Honeydewistania's love for Among Us is large enough that she recently authored a (serious) proposal in which she included the line "Among other punishments received for noncompliance, all impostors shall also be declared sus."

Any thoughts by anybody on the actual meat of the argument would be appreciated.

[Outer Sparta]

Quick question: what's with the emphasis on foodstuffs in your repeal that covers standardization of measurements? Cause there seems to be quite a bit of references to that

[Araraukar]

OOC: What clause 3 of target actually says:

3. ENABLES member nations with the freedom to determine if they shall prohibit their private enterprises or any non-plenipotentiary citizens of their nation from using any units of measurement or variations of numeration or mathematical notation;

Given Reasonable Nation Theory is assumed to work on resolutions, I don't think it's a reasonable claim to say a reasonable nation would ban all units.

[Barfleur]

OOC: What clause 3 of target actually says:

3. ENABLES member nations with the freedom to determine if they shall prohibit their private enterprises or any non-plenipotentiary citizens of their nation from using any units of measurement or variations of numeration or mathematical notation;

Given Reasonable Nation Theory is assumed to work on resolutions, I don't think it's a reasonable claim to say a reasonable nation would ban all units.

OOC: Having read that over a couple of times, I can see "any units of measurement" as either meaning all such units, in which case Tinhampton is correct and this repeal should be passed, or as meaning any particular unit, that is to say, Barfleur can prohibit the use of inches and feet and may choose to allow the use of decameters. If the latter, there is still no need to allow member nations to kick down doors and make arrests because some consenting adults were using the wrong unit of measurement in their own bedroom. So in either case I am behind this repeal.

[Tinhampton]

Bump.

I am considering the possibility of a Draft 2 in which the CONCERNED clause is replaced or supplemented by a clause about how restrictions on what units can be used in different nations can impede co-operation between those nations where the use of accurate units is required (as in the infamous Mars rocket of 1998)

[Bananaistan]

"Opposed. These are all ridiculous petty nitpicks. Member states are free to do a lot of nonsense - there's no reason to assume that restrictions are needed to prevent states from acting in their own best interests."

[Barfleur]

"Opposed. These are all ridiculous petty nitpicks. Member states are free to do a lot of nonsense - there's no reason to assume that restrictions are needed to prevent states from acting in their own best interests."

"Given the massive violation of privacy that would accompany enforcement of national numeration and units laws, including arresting individuals for using the wrong ruler or meterstick, at little to no benefit to the national or public interest, I believe the repeal is absolutely justified."

[Great Algerstonia]

"Opposed. These are all ridiculous petty nitpicks. Member states are free to do a lot of nonsense - there's no reason to assume that restrictions are needed to prevent states from acting in their own best interests."

"Given the massive violation of privacy that would accompany enforcement of national numeration and units laws, including arresting individuals for using the wrong ruler or meterstick, at little to no benefit to the national or public interest, I believe the repeal is absolutely justified."

"Bleh... for this reason, my cops will gain less reasons to arbitrarily arrest enemies of my investors- er I mean criminals. Algerstonia does not support this repeal."

~Police-President-Plenipotentiary Paul Plint.

[Tinhampton]

I am considering the possibility of a Draft 2 in which the CONCERNED clause is replaced or supplemented by a clause about how restrictions on what units can be used in different nations can impede co-operation between those nations where the use of accurate units is required (as in the infamous Mars rocket of 1998)

I have decided to introduce the clause in question as a supplement to CONCERNED.