Lincoln Chafee’s presidential platform? America to adopt the metric system, of course.

Washington Post ^ | 06/04/2015 | By Amber Phillips

[SeekAndFind]

Well, this is a new one.

While announcing his candidacy for the highest office in the land, newly minted Democratic presidential candidate and former Rhode Island senator and governor Lincoln Chafee made the bold case for … the U.S. to switch to the metric system?

Bloomberg's Dave Weigel was there:

Chafee, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, gave a brief and chipper address that called for America to re-engage with "international community" with diplomacy and "symbolic" moves. That meant everything from barring campaign donors from becoming diplomats, to allowing Edward Snowden to come home without punishment, to bringing America into the Metric system.

"It doesn't take long to realize that 34 degrees is hot," joked Chafee, reminiscing about some time he spent in Canada.

Apparently Canada is a major inspiration for Chafee's call to end the absurdity that is the United States' -- what is it called again -- Standard system.

[lee martell]

This was all the rage, about 35 years ago. The media and government kept saying America must change to use the same units as the rest of the world. We must change!!!
But we didn’t change for the most part. We have liter gas and liter sodas, but not much else on a regular basis.
Metric? Really? How very ‘1983’ of you, Lincoln.

[elcid1970]

Chaffee is a liberal New England nutbag just like his father who tried to repeal the Second Amendment.

[MplsSteve]

I remember back in elementary school (in the mid 70’s) when they tried to get us to learn the metric system.

It didn’t go well at all.

[Dr. Sivana]

reminiscing about some time he spent in Canada.

My Canadian relatives reminisce about the time the govenrment tried to force metric on the house building industry. Half built houses were stymied by non-fitting sheets of plywood, drywal and studs, and they had to go back.

Even after Canada has been on Metric for the most part for 40 years, ask a Canadian what he cooks a roast at in the oven, or how much he weighs. The answers will be in fahrenheit or pounds (maybe stone if they are Anglophiles). The signs at the Edmonton mall for vehicle clearance in the parking lot are in feet, because they want people to understand.

Ask a Canadian what a decimeter is, and you will get a blank stare, meaning there is no useable measurement between centimeter and meter. A kilogram of fish is too large a measure, and a gram is to small. So, fish is sold by the centigram, only no Canadaians seem to use the term centigram, so they say "100 gram", as in, I want to buy nine 100 grams of fish.

That is not progress.

[twister881]

The Clinton Criminal Enterprise will whip Chafee within 2.54 centimeters of his life.

[Dr. Sivana]

We have liter gas and liter sodas, but not much else on a regular basis.

Grams and milligrams are actually kind of useful for nutirional information. Better than some of our small measurements (e.g. grains).

Interestingly, gunpowder is still measurted everywhere with the old school measurements as far as I know.

[AppyPappy]

I have to agree. I am a track official and everything is metric EXCEPT the field events. WHT? I have to measure in inches which is a pain.

[Qiviut]

I remember back in elementary school (in the mid 70’s) when they tried to get us to learn the metric system.

**************************************

I surely remember those days!! I was no 'dummy' (straight A student) and I never 'got' the metric system. We were told it was the 'up and coming' thing and in a couple of years the whole country would be going metric so we needed to buck up and learn the stuff.

With today's education indoctrination system, the kids have trouble with fairly simple reading, writing & 'rithmentic .... I can't imagine a good number of them learning metrics. Also, with the way Common Core butchers math, I can only imagine how impossible CC would make learning metrics.

[SeekAndFind]

SOURCE: http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae358.cfm

Other than the U.S., what other country still uses the old English System of Units?

While the rest of the world is pretty much standardized on the metric system of measurements, when it comes to mandatory use the big holdouts are the United States and Great Britain, Liberia and Burma.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Jimmy Carter tried to do this. America rose up and responded with a resounding “F**k, No!”. Just like the 55MPH speed limit.

Of course that was in the 70’s. Today people are practically sedated sheep by comparison.

Canada went ahead with metric, and even today I doubt to many Canadians my age or older really have any concept of how long a kilometer is.

[DoodleDawg]

Other than the U.S., what other country still uses the old English System of Units?

Liberia and Burma.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I remember the morning news on WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh would give us daily drills on converting Farenheit to Celsius to prepare us for the coming Metric weather forecasts.

[bigbob]

Pat Paulsen is smiling

[BerniesFriend]

Lincoln Chafee’s presidential platform? America to adopt the metric system, of course.

[docbnj]

Of course we should adopt the metric system.

But with common sense, and based on the experience of countries such as Britain and Canada.

The secret is to adopt where it is easy, and where it makes sense, and keep what works. What works is standardized materials, such as 4x8 plywood sheets.

Where change is easy, and educationally reasonable is (for example) to adopt °C. One could do that overnight. DO NOT memorize a conversion formula: it will just slow you down. Simply learn that 0°C is freezing, 20°C is room temperature, and 37°C is human body temperature. That is all you need to know to understand weather reports.

The trouble is, liberals and socialists are not practical, moderate people; so they tend to go to extremes. They are by nature endowed with a strong streak of fanaticism.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

When I was in elementary school, we learned pounds, shillings and pence. Was it 12 pence to the shilling ? 20 shillings to the pound ?
There was another measure of 21 shillings but I can't recall what that added up to...

[Fiji Hill]

So if Chaffee gets in, football will be known as 30.5 centimeter ball.

[Arthur McGowan]

I remember in the 70’s, talking to some kids who hated the metric system. They thought it was “complicated.” Turned out that their school was making them memorize CONVERSIONS—i.e., Englsh to metric, metric to English. Some years later, I noticed the PSA’s weren’t taking that approach.

The metric system is straight out of French rationalism. I.e., it’s demonic.

[RayChuang88]

The USA should have adopted the metric system--phased in over a ten-year period--back in the 1980's when it was still relatively inexpensive to do. Now, the cost is just way too expensive.

Anyway, if we had phased in metric starting in 1981 (and ending in 1991), our freeway speed limits would be 90 km/h (56 mph) for urban freeways, 100 km/h (62 mph) for suburban freeways, and 110 or 120 km/h (68 or 74 mph) for rural freeways.

But the big issue is the need to replace all our climate control thermostats, ovens, cooking ranges and especially food packaging with their metric equivalents--very expensive, to say the least.