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French revolt against Prime Meridian-Sort Of

Posted by Hemos on from the no-we're-doing-it-our-way dept.

Well, this amused Rob and I so much that we just had to post it. Rather then continue to use the World-accepted Prime Meridian (Yeah, who needs standards?), the French Government has decided that the world' prime meridian runs through Paris. To celebrate, they're building groves of trees all the way down through France, which will be viewable from space. I should be clear: This is the Government, not a popular action by the people. And I think this is only 1/2 as stupid as US Crypto laws. I've been told that this is actually one of those many Millenium Celebration things, and not actually a revolt-thanks to those who write me.

1 of 575 comments (clear)

  1. ok, here goes.. by Kabby · · Score: 5
    Since it's French bash day at slashdot today (woohoo), I realize there is no point in even trying to convince you that most French probably think of this as a really dumb idea. Since I'm half French, and all I saw was insults and mockery (well deserved might I add... for the most part anyway), all I can do is comment a bit on the subject.

    If I remember my history correctly, there was a great debate as to where the prime meridian was supposed to be at first. It obviously came down to France and England, and it's rather obvious who 'won'. Now, I'm not looking to play the blame game but England and the United States are not ones to speak when it comes to avoiding world-accepted standards (inches vs. meters, driving left vs. driving right, etc). So please, before you insult the whole French population, think of your own country and how it stands out from the others in terms of standards. Also, one of the posts was saying that the French are arrogant, and although I'm not saying they aren't, you can't deny that there is no country more arrogant than the USA. And yes, for the last time, I think this is a dumb idea.

    Let the flaming begin! (right KrON?)