Fahrenheit or Celsius

[Stop_the_War]

Let's say that we Democrats take back the White House in '08. In order to catch up with the rest of the world, shouldn't we change our Fahrenheit system to Celsius? And also change our measurement system to metric?

I say we should change it.

[salvorhardin]

1. Oh please.

You can do better than that.

[Journeyman]

2. Well, I'm just trying to get people to believe in the Constitution. . .

and to use the Declaration of Independence as their guide to life. I'll leave the physical world measurements to another day if I can see the nation re-embrace its roots.

[K-W]

3. No,

we should do exactly what we have been doing. There is no need to force a change on people when the change is happening just fine on its own.

[uppityperson]

4. Sure, after everything else that needs doing gets done.

After:
Peace
affordable healthcare
jobs
economy
education
affordable housing
social security
anti-PATRIOT act
etc

After we get these tuned up, sure. why not?

[Heyo]

5. I don't know about..

...something called the "anti-Patriot-act"

just sayin'

Heyo

[uppityperson]

10. I mean doing away with the PATRIOT act, not being antipatriot

[DireStrike]

6. Um, no. Instead let's do useful things that people support. -nt-

[Solon]

7. I understand what your saying...

I remember seeing a video from the 1970's about the US turning metric in high school in the year 1996. This was in gym class of all things, and even the teacher there said we should have done it, but didn't bother, Metric system actually makes more sense. However, I don't think a legislative fiat will make it happen overnight, it is a helpful position, but it should be phased in gradually over time, through the educational system, and then through our official measurements. Government encouragement of the metric system can go a long way, longer than any promise, by any president. I would say that, because of our some of the global trade going on, that it is being phased in already, just not in every aspect of life.

[karlrschneider]

8. It was supposedly "mandated" many years ago by federal legislation.

About the only thing that ever got done was marking car speedometers in both English & metric, and a handful of X Km/hr speed limit signs here and there most of which were stolen in no time. We could export 10 times as many products as we do if we did switch...there are only, what? 3 or 4 countries that aren't 100% metric?

[0rganism]

9. "We don't want any foreign rulers!"

(was the punchline to some stupid joke about changing from the english to the metric system)

[DavidDvorkin]

11. If it isn't, it should be!

[DavidDvorkin]

12. Sorry, misread your post.

Good punchline.

[Siyahamba]

13. Funny how it's called the "English" system in the US

When England uses metric. The US is the only industrialized nation that still uses it; it should be called the American system.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. The UK only half uses metric

eg temperatures are given in Celsius, schools teach in metric, and retail weights and measures (apart from the traditional eg 'pint of beer') must now be primarily metric. But road distances and speeds are still measured in miles, and most people quote fuel economy as mpg (although petrol is now sold in litres).

The fuss made when retail measures had to change was so great that no government will attempt to force a change on the roads in the next 40 years, I reckon. By then, those who never learnt the metric system at school will have mostly died, and we should be able to proceed.

But we don't call it the 'English' system. We call it 'imperial'.